2018

WWW.NSCL.MSU.EDU

GRADUATE STUDIES 2018NATIONAL SUPERCONDUCTING CYCLOTRON LAB

TABLE OF CONTENTS

TABLE OF CONTENTS

1 DIRECTOR’S WELCOME

2 NUCLEAR SCIENCE AT MSU

3 GRADUATE STUDENT LIFE

4 WOMEN AND MINORITIES IN THE PHYSICAL SCIENCES

5 LAB & FUTURE PLANS

8 CAREERS IN NUCLEAR SCIENCE

10 ADMISSIONS

11 FACULTY LIST

12-49 FACULTY PROFILES

50 THE JOINT INSTITUTE FOR NUCLEAR ASTROPHYSICS (JINA-CEE)

51 THE FACILITY FOR RARE ISOTOPE BEAMS (FRIB)

52-53 MICHIGAN STATE UNIVERSITY

54 LANSING AREA

55 USEFUL LINKS

56-57 NOTES SPACE

Portions of this brochure were adapted from the Department of Chemistry at Michigan State University. Some images provided by NASA.

National Superconducting Cyclotron LaboratoryMichigan State University

640 South Shaw Lane, East Lansing, Michigan 48824-1321Phone 517-355-9671 www.nscl.msu.edu

Operation of NSCL as a national user facility is supported by the Experimental Nuclear Physics Program of the U.S. National Science Foundation.

Why do atoms exist? Where did they come from? What do their properties tell us about the laws of Nature? These are fundamental questions that graduate student research at the FRIB Laboratory and NSCL will answer. What we do is also related to the practical question of how to use the properties of atomic nuclei and the corresponding tools we use to solve societal needs.

During the past half-century, researchers were confined to work with a few hundred isotopes, but now thousands of new nuclei not found naturally (rare isotopes) are accessible for experimental research. NSCL, funded by the U.S. National Science Foundation, is a pioneer in this new field of rare isotope research and has world-unique capabilities. What we have learned so far has had a dramatic impact on how we model atomic nuclei and understand astrophysical environments. Even more significant advances are on the way as in the near future close to 80% of all isotopes of elements from hydrogen to uranium will be available at MSU.

This is possible because MSU is in the process of establishing the next generation Facility for Rare Isotope Beams (FRIB) as a scientific user facility for the U.S. Department of Energy Office of Science. FRIB is under construction as the most powerful rare isotope beam facility in the world and MSU is poised to become the world-hub for rare isotope scientists. FRIB will open a vast terrain of unchartered science to experimental investigations. Today, the ground work for these discoveries is done by graduate study at NSCL today in nuclear theory, experiment, and accelerator science.

As a campus-based national user facility, partner in the Joint Institute for Nuclear Astrophysics – Center for the Evolution of the Elements, and center for the FRIB Theory Alliance, the laboratory offers unparalleled education and research opportunities to graduate students, who routinely meet and work side by side with leading researchers in nuclear physics, nuclear astrophysics, nuclear chemistry, accelerator physics and engineering.

There is no better way to begin a career in science than learning and working at a world-leading user facility that attracts scientists from all over the world in the pursuit of their research. You will watch, participate in, and lead discoveries of things no one knew before. In the process you will develop the skills and connections to enable you to a wide variety of exciting carriers.

Please read through the profiles of our faculty and description of their forefront research. You will see how we address the big questions and hope you consider joining us in finding answers.

• NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION-FUNDED USER FACILITY: WORLD-LEADING FACILITY FOR THE PRODUCTION AND STUDY OF RARE ISOTOPES

• LARGEST UNIVERSITY CAMPUS-BASED NUCLEAR SCIENCE LABORATORY IN THE UNITED STATES – ONE OF THREE U.S. FLAGSHIP USER FACILITIES IN NUCLEAR SCIENCE, AND THE ONLY ONE LOCATED ON A UNIVERSITY CAMPUS

• GRADUATE PROGRAM IN NUCLEAR PHYSICS RANKED NO. 1 BY U.S. NEWS AND WORLD REPORT

• EDUCATES 10% OF ALL U.S. NUCLEAR SCIENCE DOCTORAL STUDENTS WITH AN AVERAGE TIME TO PH.D. AWARD OVER A YEAR FASTER THAN THE NATIONAL AVERAGE

• LARGEST NUCLEAR SCIENCE FACULTY IN THE NATION ENABLES RESEARCH OPPORTUNITIES IN MANY AREAS OF RARE ISOTOPE RESEARCH

Brad Sherrill and Thomas Glasmacher, NSCL and FRIB Directors, respectively.

1. DIRECTORS’ WELCOME

To probe the mysteries of an atom’s nucleus is to seek answers to some of the most fundamental of questions about how the elements were formed and what keeps nuclei together. Nuclear science pursues these big questions by colliding nuclei and examining the tiniest of particles. In collisions at half the speed of light, new isotopes are created in a billionth of a trillionth of one second. To do this, scientists need particle accelerators, state-of-the-art computers and specially designed equipment.

Research at NSCL concentrates on the study of exotic nuclei, one of the current frontiers in nuclear science. Compared to the more familiar stable nuclei, these exotic nuclei have large excesses of either protons or neutrons and tend to decay quickly, sometimes within fractions of a second. Experimental groups use the world-leading capabilities of the coupled cyclotrons at NSCL to produce exotic nuclei through fragmentation of accelerated stable nuclei that bombard a solid target. The exotic fragments are transported to the experimental stations within hundreds of nanoseconds, where a wide range of experiments can be carried out using state-of-the art equipment.

Some experiments determine the existence of a particular nucleus for the first time, while others stop the nuclei to study their decay or to measure their mass. Other experiments have the exotic nuclei bombard another target and study the ensuing nuclear reactions revealing information about the internal structure of the nucleus, or the behavior of nuclear matter during the extreme temperatures and densities encountered in a nuclear collision.

All these experiments have revealed many surprising properties of exotic nuclei and many more remain to be discovered.

The most recent addition to the Lab’s capabilities is reaccelerated beams of rare

isotopes, after they have been slowed down, in order to precisely study

reactions at energies important to astronomical phenomena.

NSCL theorists are working closely with experimentalists to interpret these results and to use exotic nuclei as probes to uncover hidden aspects of the nuclear force that holds together all atomic nuclei.

Understanding this force and building a nuclear theory that can predict its properties is one of the ultimate goals in nuclear science.

Exotic nuclei also play an important role in astrophysics. They are created in stellar explosions such as X-ray bursts and supernovae, and are believed to exist inside neutron stars. Often, the decays of exotic nuclei are intermediate steps in the astrophysical processes that created the elements in nature. Many NSCL groups work at the intersection of nuclear physics and astrophysics to address open questions raised by astronomical observations concerning the origin of the elements, the nature of stellar explosions and the properties of neutron stars.

2. NUCLEAR SCIENCE

The Lab offers unique opportunities for experiments with fast, stopped, and reaccelerated beams, together

with close collaboration with theory.

Graduate students at NSCL have outstanding opportunities to do research at a national laboratory located on the campus of a major research university. The strong interaction between the experimental and theoretical scientists and the frequent visitors and users of the facility creates an open and academically stimulating atmosphere. NSCL is widely recognized for its cutting-edge research in nuclear science, nuclear astrophysics, accelerator physics and engineering. This is evidenced by the large number of publications in high-quality refereed journals and invited talks at national and international conferences. Most graduate students are financially supported with research assistantships when working on thesis projects. Exceptional students can be awarded an NSCL fellowship.

As the premier rare isotope facility in the U.S. for the next decade, NSCL and FRIB are a high national priority, as expressed in the recommendations in the 2007 Long Range Plan of the DOE/NSF Nuclear Science Advisory Committee. Experimental and theoretical insight gained at FRIB will lead to a comprehensive description of nuclei, elucidate the origin of the elements in the cosmos, provide an understanding of matter in the crust of neutron stars, and establish the scientific foundation for applications of nuclear science to society.

Graduate students in experimental nuclear science will be involved in all aspects of performing an experiment at NSCL: writing a proposal which will be reviewed by an external Program Advisory Committee, designing an experiment, setting up the hardware, writing data acquisition and analysis code, analyzing, simulating, and interpreting the results, and finally writing a manuscript for a peer-reviewed journal. Theory students have access to world experts who frequently visit the laboratory and collaborate closely with local faculty. Students in accelerator physics participate in the development of state-of-the-art technologies to create and manipulate beams of charged particles and

greatly benefit from the in-house expertise and resources associated with the running of the Coupled Cyclotron Facility and the newly constructed Reaccelerator, as well as the development of FRIB.

Our graduate students routinely present their new results at important national and international conferences. This provides exposure to senior colleagues and helps in finding new job opportunities after graduation. Graduate students take an active part in the organization and daily business of NSCL, and are represented on most laboratory committees. NSCL graduate students administer their own office space, meet weekly, and organize their own seminar series. They also contribute to many of the outreach activities offered through NSCL and participate in the governance process of the College of Natural Science and the Council of Graduate Students.

NSCL graduate students also are encouraged to participate in some of the many student organizations at MSU, such as Women and Minorities in the Physical Sciences (WaMPS), an all-inclusive organization founded by NSCL students and generously supported by the Physics and Astronomy department and NSCL. Dedicated to supporting and promoting the participation of underrepresented groups in science, WaMPS activities include an undergraduate mentoring program, monthly meetings to discuss topical news items, semi-annual social events, informal networking lunches with seminar speakers and local faculty, and professional development workshops. WaMPS membership and activities are open to all graduate students, and active participation can provide valuable leadership training and service opportunities.

3. GRADUATE STUDENT LIFE

NSCL has the number one nuclear science graduate

program in the United States

Women and Minorities in the Physical Sciences (WaMPS) is a graduate student group at Michigan State University that strives to promote diversity in the physical sciences by encouraging women and minorities to pursue the field, as well as working to create an inviting and supportive community for those who are already part of the physical sciences. WaMPS aims to include students from all backgrounds, so our group is comprised of a variety of students in the physics department (and some nuclear chemists).

WaMPS holds a variety of events each semester. We meet monthly to discuss articles or hold workshops about different topics relevant to women and minorities in the field. These discussions often include a focus on what we, as graduate students, or our physics department can do to address these problems. WaMPS has also taken field trips to museums or to see relevant movies, such as Hidden Figures, which was followed up by a discussion of how the film represented women of color in science. As WaMPS strives to create a program which fosters collaboration and professional growth in a laid-back, relaxed atmosphere, we offer a variety of mentoring events for students in all stages of their education and professional development. For incoming graduate students, we offer a Peer Mentoring program to ease the transition to graduate school. Each incoming student is paired with an older graduate student from whom they can seek advice in a relaxed atmosphere, knowing that their mentor has gone through the same graduate school stresses as they are experiencing. We also host social group events to help new students meet the rest of the department. As graduate students, we mentor undergraduates at MSU as well. Summer REU students are paired with graduate students for one-on-one mentoring during their program. In addition, we offer a variety of workshops and panel discussions for the MSU undergraduates, including study sessions for the physics GRE and discussions on applying to graduate school.

WaMPS also has a strong Outreach Program at MSU and within the greater Lansing area. The Outreach Program has put together a series of interactive demonstrations to teach about various topics, include electricity and magnetism and states of matter. These are presented at various outreach events (Impression 5 Science Center, MSU Girl Scout Day STEM Day, and many more) to share our excitement about science with younger generations. Recently, we have also created our own 3-day summer camp for local middle school students, SL@MS (Science and Leadership at Michigan State). During the SL@MS program, students practice science skills in a personalized and student-driven environment through experimentation, competition, and demonstration. Throughout the camp, students also gain knowledge about waves and their applications in lasers, radios, sound, and more!

For more information go to msu.edu/~wamps or find us on Facebook at facebook.com/msuwamps. If you want to get in touch with us directly, email wamps@msu.edu.

4. WaMPS

The Laboratory strives to create a welcoming and supportive work

climate for all

NSCL has complete electronics and mechanical engineering departments and a modern machine shop equipped with a variety of CNC machines capable of building complex parts for experimental equipment.

If you need something for your research project, the purchasing department at NSCL is there to help. Purchasing approval, placement of an order, and receiving are all handled in-house – saving a lot of time.

Graduate students work on personal desktop computers and have access to the NSCL linux clusters, as well as to MSU’s high performance computing center.

Additionally, students benefit from strong National and International Collaborations, for example the Joint Institute for Nuclear Astrophysics (JINA-CEE) and the Mesoscopic Theory Center (MTC). In addition, several NSCL faculty are members of the NUCLEI (NUclear Computational Low-Energy Initiative) SciDAC project, or the Center of Excellence for Radioactive Ion Beam Studies for Stewardship Science. The laboratory is also the focal point for the FRIB Theory Alliance, a new initiative in theory related to FRIB.

Imagination, creativity and scientific knowledge are the lifeblood of nuclear physics research, but the equipment is the skeleton that brings form and substance to research. NSCL has been at the forefront of developing technology that makes nuclear science a reality.

Beams of atomic nuclei begin as ions in an ion source that then are accelerated in the K500 and K1200 cyclotrons. After fragmenting on a target, the rare isotopes, which are our specialty, are selected by the A1900 fragment separator. When the beam of rare isotopes reaches its destination, the reaction products are either measured with special detectors, or cooled before being measured or reaccelerated.

For example, the S800 spectrograph can identify the exotic fragments produced and measure their energies. Protons and light atomic nuclei are measured and studied in various charged particle detectors, including the high-resolution silicon strip detector array HiRA. Neutrons are studied with the neutron emission ratio observer NERO, the low energy neutron detector array LENDA, and the modular neutron array MoNA-LISA. Gamma-rays are detected in the segmented germanium array SeGA, the scintillation array CAESAR, and the 4π summing detector SuN. The rare isotopes also can be stopped and their properties studied with the low energy beam ion trap LEBIT, the beta counting system BCS, and in the beam cooler and laser spectroscopy endstation BECOLA. The construction of the ReA facility for experiments with reaccelerated rare isotope beams has opened up completely new opportunities. New experimental systems have been developed for that purpose, such as the supersonic gas jet target JENSA.

5. NSCL

Nuclear physics research began at Michigan State University in 1958. In the decades that followed, MSU became known, both in the United States and worldwide, for its innovations in nuclear science and associated cross-disciplinary research. Major contributions have been made in the fields of nuclear structure, nuclear astrophysics, heavy-ion reaction mechanisms, accelerator physics, beam dynamics and experimental techniques.

NSCL is the source of innovations that improve lives. A medical cyclotron built by the laboratory in the 1980s was used to treat cancer patients at Harper University Hospital in Detroit for more than 15 years. More recently, NSCL technology and design were used in a new, higher-powered medical cyclotron built by Varian Medical Systems. The collaboration agreement, an example of technology transfer that returns benefits to the university, will bring more advanced nuclear therapy to cancer patients in several countries.

Over the years, NSCL has evolved into the largest campus-based nuclear science facility in the country. Today, the laboratory has close to 600 employees, including 43 faculty and about 140 students, half of them in doctoral programs. About 28% of the US nuclear physics graduate students in the US receive part of their education at the laboratory. According to U.S. News & World Report, is the number one program in nuclear physics graduate education. The laboratory also offers several programs designed to give undergraduates meaningful, hands-on research experiences. Several dozen undergrads participate in such programs annually.

In December 2008, the U.S. Department of Energy announced the selection of Michigan State University to design and establish the Facility for Rare Isotope Beams (FRIB). Currently being constructed, the facility will provide intense beams of rare isotopes for a wide variety of studies in nuclear structure, nuclear astrophysics and nuclear theory. FRIB will impact the study of the origin of the elements and the evolution of the cosmos, and offers many opportunities for exploring the limits of nuclear existence and identifying new phenomena, with the goal of constructing a broadly applicable theory of nuclei. By creating exotic nuclei that have previously existed only in stellar explosions, FRIB will offer key input for models that describe stellar evolution and other astrophysical phenomena which will help us understand the origin of the elements and the processes that drive galactic chemical evolution. FRIB is anticipated to be completed early in the next decade. Experiments performed at NSCL not only serve to make new discoveries now, but also are used to prepare the tools and methods for the next-generation experiments at FRIB. NSCL extends the frontiers of nuclear science, and enhances the nation’s workforce as it trains the next generation of science and technology professionals.

6. LAB HISTORY & FUTURE PLANS

Your success as a graduate student is important to us. Our graduates are in high demand, and they are the best testimony to the quality of our top- ranked graduate education program.

As a nuclear or accelerator physicist, engineer, or nuclear chemist educated at NSCL, you are well positioned to pursue a variety of career paths. You are expertly trained to do research at a university, at a national laboratory or in an industrial setting. You are well-qualified to teach at a small college or a large university. You can pursue science policy or specialize in business. You can work for the U.S. Patent Office, on Wall Street or at Mayo Clinic. If you are not sure which direction to take, we have a large network of NSCL alumni who will gladly speak with you about their professions.

NSCL graduates now occupy many important positions at universities, national laboratories and the private sector, making valuable contributions to society in many different areas. For example, recent NSCL graduates now work on cancer therapy, airport anti-terrorist safety, environmental protection, weapons safeguards, national security, nuclear fusion and radiation safety of space travel. Others have chosen careers where they apply their problem solving and goal-oriented teamwork skills in diverse areas of the economy, including car manufacturing, electronics, computing and finance.

The Statistical Research Center of the American Institute of Physics disseminates data on education and employment in physics and related fields. The center publishes reports on common career paths, workforce dynamics, salaries and employment prospects. The reports and additional statistical data can be found at www.aip.org/statistics/

6. CAREERS

NSCL is committed to providing the highest quality graduate education in nuclear science, nuclear astrophysics, accelerator physics and related instrumentation technologies. The degree requirements and curricula differ, depending on whether you matriculate in the Department of Chemistry, Department of Physics & Astronomy or the College of Engineering. We refer you to the corresponding departments for application procedures and admission, course and degree requirements.

Based on your background, the Graduate Advisors in each department will put together an individual curriculum for you. Students accepted into the graduate program at NSCL receive teaching or research assistantships. At NSCL, your first contact point is the Associate Director for Education who will discuss with you the various options and opportunities for research topics. He will continue to serve as contact between you, NSCL and your respective department for the duration of your thesis studies.

Graduate students at NSCL will perform their research under the guidance of a faculty member. NSCL faculty can serve as the direct thesis supervisor as they have either joint or adjunct appointments at one of the departments. The research environment at NSCL is collaborative and the connection between individual research groups is strong. For example, within a collaboration a professor in the Department of Physics & Astronomy can supervise a chemistry student and vice versa.

After you choose your area of research, you will form your guidance committee, which will meet with you at least once a year to ensure satisfactory progress towards your degree.

All NSCL graduate students actively participate in Research Discussion, Nuclear Seminars, Departmental Colloquia and the daily laboratory business. Essential to a doctoral degree is that you develop and then demonstrate the ability to conduct vital, independent research. To become an independent researcher, you will need to develop a set of proficiencies. After you advance to Ph.D. candidacy, it usually takes two to four years to complete the original research that forms the basis for your dissertation.

7. ADMISSIONS

About a third of the country’s nuclear science graduate students are

educated in the laboratory

Wolfgang Bauer, Theoretical Nuclear Physics

Daniel Bazin, Experimental Nuclear Physics

Scott Bogner, Theoretical Nuclear Physics

Georg Bollen, Experimental Nuclear Physics

Alex Brown, Theoretical Nuclear Physics

Edward Brown, Theoretical Nuclear Astrophysics

Sean Couch, Theoretical Nuclear Astrophysics Pawel Danielewicz, Theoretical Nuclear Physics

Alexandra Gade, Experimental Nuclear Physics

Rao Ganni, Accelerator Engineering

Thomas Glasmacher, Experimental Nuclear Physics

Heiko Hergert, Theoretical Nuclear Physics

Morten Hjorth-Jensen , Theoretical Nuclear Physics

Masanori Ikegami, Accelerator Physics

Hironori Iwasaki, Experimental Nuclear Physics

Steven Lidia, Accelerator Physics

Sean Liddick, Nuclear Chemistry

Dean Lee, Theoretical Nuclear Physics

Steven Lund, Accelerator Physics

Bill Lynch, Experimental Nuclear Physics

Guillaume Machicoane, Accelerator Physics

Paul Mantica, Nuclear Chemistry

Felix Marti, Accelerator Physics

Wolfgang Mittig, Experimental Nuclear Physics

Kei Minamisono, Experimental Nuclear Physics

Dave Morrissey, Nuclear Chemistry

Oscar Naviliat Cuncic, Experimental Nuclear Physics

Witold Nazarewicz, Theoretical Nuclear Physics Filomena Nunes, Theoretical Nuclear Physics

Peter Ostroumov, Accelerator Physics

Brian O’Shea, Theoretical Nuclear Astrophysics

Eduard Pozdeyev, Accelerator Physics

Scott Pratt, Theoretical Nuclear Physics

Luke Roberts, Theoretical Nuclear Astrophysics

Kenji Saito, Accelerator Physics

Andrea Schindler, Theoretical Nuclear Physics

Hendrik Schatz, Experimental Nuclear Astrophysics

Bradley Sherrill, Experimental Nuclear Physics

Greg Severin, Nuclear Chemistry

Jaideep Singh, Experimental Atomic & Nuclear Physics

Artemis Spyrou, Experimental Nuclear Astrophysics

Andreas Stolz, Experimental Nuclear Physics

Betty Tsang, Experimental Nuclear Physics

Jie Wei, Accelerator Physics & Engineering

Gary Westfall, Experimental Nuclear Physics

Christopher Wrede, Experimental Nuclear Astrophysics

Yoshishige Yamazaki, Accelerator Physics & Engineering

Richard York, Accelerator Physics

Remco Zegers, Experimental Nuclear Physics

Vladimir Zelevinsky, Theoretical Nuclear Physics

8. FACULTY LIST

Selected PublicationsKnudsen-number dependence of two-dimensional single-mode Rayleigh-Taylor fluid instabilities I. Sagert, J. Howell, A. Staber, T. Strother, D. Colbry, and W. Bauer, Phys. Rev. E92, 013009 (2015)

Zipf’s Law in Nuclear Multifragmentation and Percolation Theory, K. Paech, W. Bauer, and S. Pratt, Phys. Rev. C 76, 054603 (2007)Fragmentation and the Nuclear Equation of State, W. Bauer, Nucl. Phys. A787, 595c (2007)

Net Energy Ratio and Greenhouse Gas Analysis of a Biogas Power Plant, W. Bauer, J. of Energy and Power Eng. 7, 1656 (2013).

University Physics with Modern Physics (2nd edition, McGraw-Hill), W. Bauer and G.D. Westfall (2013)

I am a theoretical physicist and work mainly on phase transitions in nuclear systems, on transport theory for heavy ion collisions, and on the determination of the nuclear equation of state. Much of my work is in close connection with experimentally accessible observables, and I have enjoyed many collaborations with my experimental colleagues from NSCL and around the world. Approximately one half of my roughly 130 publications in peer-reviewed journals are collaborations with experimentalists.

During the last few years I have found out that many advances in one particular field of science can be applied in an interdisciplinary way. One example is my a pplication of algorithms developed in my work on nuclear fragmentation to the detection of cancer cells in human bodies. Another example is the application of our methods to solve the transport problem for heavy ion collisions to the dynamics of supernova explosions. This project is still ongoing, and we are making progress on solving turbulence and instability problems.

I have also worked on chaos, non-linear dynamics, and self-organized criticality. All of these areas of study have applications to nuclear physics, but also to a great range of other systems, from molecules to traffic flow, and from the stock market to the weather. Recently, I have been focussing on renewable power production, in particular biogas power plants. I am working on a book on biofuels, which will be published by World Scientific.

Finally, I am interested in research on teaching and learning. Here I have a long-standing collaboration that has produced the LON-CAPA course management and learning system, which is now in use at over 100 universities, colleges, and high schools around the country and in several other countries around the world. And together with Prof. Gary Westfall I have authored a leading introductory physics university textbook, which has been translated into several other languages.

M.S., Physics,University Giessen,1985

Ph.D., Physics, University Giessen,1987

Joined NSCL in October 1988

bauer@pa.msu.edu

For the near future I am planning on a continuation of the work on biofuels, research on teaching and learning, nuclear fragmentation, as well as the transport problem for supernova explosions. In addition, my current duties include thinking about MSU’s energy future, as well as providing reliable and economic electrical power for FRIB.

Using transport theories and models of phase transitions to determine the nuclear matter phase diagram.

Wolfgang BauerUniversity Distinguished Professor of PhysicsTheoretical Nuclear Physics

Selected PublicationsThe program LISE: a simulation of fragment separators, D. Bazin, O. Tarasov, M. Lewitowicz and O. Sorlin, Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research A 482, (2002) 307

New direct reaction: two-proton knockout from neutron-rich nuclei, D. Bazin, B. A. Brown, C. M. Campbell, …, Physical Review Letters 91, (2003) 012501

Mechanisms in knockout reactions, D. Bazin, R. J. Charity, R. T. de Souza, …, Physical Review Letters 102, (2009) 232501

Prototype AT-TPC: Toward a new generation active target time projection chamber for radioactive beam experiments, D. Suzuki, M. Ford, D. Bazin, W. Mittig, …, Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research A 691 (2012) 39

B.S. PhysicsNational Institute

for Applied Science, Rennes, France

1984

Ph.D., Nuclear PhysicsUniversity of Caen,

France1987

Joined NSCL in 1994

bazin@nscl.msu.edu

Daniel BazinSenior Physicist& Adjunct Professor

Experimental Nuclear Physics

The focus of my research is centered on the study of exotic nuclei and the most efficient ways to unravel their properties. It is now well established that these radioactive nuclei - which depart from the usual balance of the number of protons and neutrons - have very different properties than the stable ones. Their structures, shapes and modes of excitation can reveal new phenomena, such as haloes or molecular states for instance, that are essential to our understanding of the forces that bind nuclei together via comparison with theoretical models. Finding the most sensitive and relevant experimental methods to reveal these phenomena has been the focus of my career since its beginning.

More specifically, I am conducting an experimental program aimed at using and studying in detail one of the most successful type of reactions used to study the structure of very rare exotic nuclei. These so-called knockout reactions are peripheral collisions where one or two nucleons at most are removed from a fast moving projectile. The aim of my program is to understand the reaction mechanisms that take place during such collisions, and validate the theory that is used to model them in order to deduce useful information on the structure of both the projectile and residual nuclei. A very interesting use of knockout reaction that I am pursuing is to map the wave function composition of light nuclei located in the p-shell, for which calculations from first principles are now available. Studying these light radioactive isotopes, several of them at the edge of being unbound, is paramount to test these new theories and guide their development.

In addition to fast beams and knockout reactions techniques, I am developing a new type of detector particularly well designed for lower energy collisions, such as transfer reactions or resonant scattering for instance. Low energy reactions require the use of very thin targets to preserve the characteristics of the emitted particles. This severely limits the sensitivity of such measurements, as the low number of nuclei in the target must be compensated by large intensities in the beams. The Active Target Time Projection Chamber, or AT-TPC, is a novel type of detector where the gas volume is at the same time a target and a detector medium. By literally detecting the reaction within the target itself, this new technique alleviates the shortcomings of the traditional solid target method. This detector is especially well suited for the future radioactive re-accelerated beams of the ReA3 linear accelerator, planned to be operational by the end of 2013. The AT-TPC is expected to be ready for experiments at about the same time.

This two-dimensional spectrum shows events recorded during a knockout reaction where a proton was removed from a 90 MeV/u Carbon-9 projectile. The energies of the resulting Boron-8 (horizontal) and proton (vertical) show two distinct regions corresponding to elastic and inelastic breakup processes.

My research focuses on applications of renormalization group (RG) and effective field theory (EFT) methods to the microscopic description of nuclei and nuclear matter. EFT and RG methods have long enjoyed a prominent role in condensed matter and high energy theory due to their power of simplification for strongly interacting multi-scale systems. More recently, these complementary techniques have become widespread in low-energy nuclear physics, enabling the prospect for model-independent calculations of nuclear structure and reactions with controllable theoretical errors and providing a more tangible link to the underlying quantum chromodynamics.

From a computational perspective, the use of EFT and RG techniques substantially simplifies many-body calculations by restricting the necessary degrees of freedom to the energy scales of interest. In addition to extending the reach of ab-inito calculations by eliminating unnecessary degrees of freedom, many problems become amenable to simple perturbative treatments. Since a mean-field description now becomes a reasonable starting point for nuclei and nuclear matter, it becomes possible to provide a microscopic foundation for extremely successful (but largely phenomenological) methods such as the nuclear shell model and nuclear density functional theory (DFT) that are used to describe properties of the medium-mass and heavy nuclei where ab-inito methods are computationally prohibitive. The use of RG and EFT methods to construct effective nuclear shell model Hamiltonians and energy density functionals from the underlying nuclear force in a major component of the DOE-funded Scientific Discovery thru Advanced Computing (SciDAC) project “Nuclear Computational Low-Energy Initiative (NUCLEI)” of which I am a member.

My research program presents a diverse range of research opportunities for potential Ph.D. students, encompassing three very different (but interrelated) components that offer a balance of analytical and numerical work: 1) inter-nucleon interactions, 2) ab-initio methods for finite nuclei and infinite nuclear matter, and 3) density functional theory for nuclei.

Specific topics that I am currently interested in are: calculating the equation of state for nuclear matter from microscopic inter-nucleon interactions, exploring the role of three-nucleon forces in neutron-rich nuclei, microscopic construction of shell model Hamiltonians and effective operators, developing microscopically based density functional theory for nuclei, and loosely bound systems at the limits of stability.

Ground-state energies of closed shell nuclei without (top) and with (bottom) 3N forces at different resolution scales {lambda}. 3N forces are crucial to reproduce the experimental trend (black bars) in the Calcium isotopes.

Selected PublicationsIn-Medium Similarity Renormalization Group for Open-Shell Nuclei, K. Tsukiyama, S.K. Bogner and A. Schwenk, Phys.Rev. C 85, 061304 (2012). Testing the density matrix expansion against ab-initio calculations of trapped neutron drops, S.K. Bogner et al., Phys. Rev. C 84, 044306 (2011). In-medium similarity renormalization group for nuclei, K. Tsukiyama, S.K. Bogner and A. Schwenk, Phys. Rev. Lett. 106, 222502 (2011). From low-momentum interactions to nuclear structure, S.K. Bogner, R.J. Furnstahl and A. Schwenk, Prog. Part. Nucl. Phys. 65, 94 (2010).

B.S., Nuclear Engineering,University of Cincinnati,1996

Ph.D., Theoretical Physics,SUNY Stony Brook,2002

Joined NSCL in July 2007

bogner@nscl.msu.edu

Scott BognerAssociate Professor of PhysicsTheoretical Nuclear Physics Department Head

Selected PublicationsFirst Direct Double-Beta Decay Q-Value Measurement of 82Se in Support of Understanding the Nature of the Neutrino, D. Lincoln et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 110 012501 (2013)

“Ion Surfing” with Radiofrequency Carpets. G. Bollen, Int.J. Mass Spectrom. 299 (2011) 131. doi: 10.1016/j.ijms.2010.09.032

Precision test of the isobaric multiplet mass equation for the A=32, T=2 quintet, A.A. Kwiatkowski, et al., Phys. Rev. C80 051302 (2009)

rp Process and Masses of N~Z~34 Nuclides, J. Savory, P. Schury, C. Bachelet et al. Phys. Rev. Lett. 102 132501 (2009)

The LEBIT 9.4T Penning trap mass spectrometer, R. Ringle,et al., Nucl. Instr, Meth. A 604 536 (2009)

Discovery of a nuclear isomer in Fe-65 with Penning trap mass spectrometry, M. Block, C. Bachelet, G. Bollen et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 100 132501 (2008)

M.S., Physics, Mainz University,

1984

Ph.D., Physics, Mainz University,

1989

Joined NSCL in June 2000

bollen@frib.msu.edu

Georg BollenUniversity Distinguished Professor of Physics

Experimental Systems Division Director, FRIBExperimental Nuclear Physics

My research interests are related to nuclear and atomic physics with focus on the study of basic properties of atomic nuclei very far away from the valley of stability. A major activity in my group is the determination of the mass of such rare isotopes, which is their most fundamental property. An accurate knowledge of atomic masses is important for revealing the inner structure of exotic nuclei and to provide crucial tests for nuclear model predictions. Atomic masses are one of the key information required for the description of the synthesis of the elements in the universe.

Certain special nuclei are important for testing our understanding of symmetries and the fundamental forces in nature; their masses need to be determined with an accuracy of 10 parts per billion or better. Such high-precision mass measurements have become possible at NSCL with the Low Energy Beam and Ion Trap facility, or LEBIT. This device makes use of very low-energy ions that are obtained by slowing down fast beams from the A1900 through gas-stopping technologies. This technique slows the ions enough that they can be kept floating in a vacuum in a device called an ion trap. Here their mass can be determined with very high precision via the observation of their cyclotron motion in a strong 9.4 Tesla magnetic field. LEBIT, in operation since 2005, has started its mass measurement program very successfully; rare isotopes with half-lives of less than 100 ms have been captured and studied and mass accuracies below 10-8 have been reached. In addition to determining their mass I am interested in atomic spectroscopy of rare isotopes using lasers. This, for example, can provide information on the size and shape of the atomic nucleus. My group is involved in the on-going realization of such a laser spectroscopy facility at NSCL.

Another research area is the development of advanced manipulation techniques for rare isotope beams. Developments of that kind are critical for maximizing the performance of experiments and for creating new experimental opportunities for the study of rare isotopes. My group is working on techniques that allow fast rare isotope beams to be slowed down and converted into low-energy beams efficiently and fast, on beam-cooling and bunching techniques, and on the development of a device that increases the charge state of ions. Such a charge breeder is a key component of the re-accelerator project presently underway at NSCL, which will provide rare isotope beams that are world-unique and add a new and exciting component to the strong research program of NSCL.

The LEBIT ion trap: shown are the gold-plated high-precision electrodes that provide the electric fields needed for capturing and storing rare isotope ions in the 9.4 T field of the LEBIT Penning trap mass spectrometer.

Selected PublicationsLarge Low-Energy M1 Strength for (56,57)Fe Within the Nuclear Shell Model, B. A. Brown and R. C. Larsen, Phys. Rev. Lett. 113, 252502 (2014).

Nuclear Structure Aspects of Neutrinoless Double Beta Decay, B. A. Brown, M. Horoi and R. A. Sen’kov, Phys. Rev. Lett. 113, 262501 (2014).

Constraints on the Skyrme Equations of State from Properties of Doubly Magic Nuclei and ab initio calculations of low-density neutron matter, B. A. Brown and Achim Schwenk, Phys. Rev. C 89 011307(R) (2014).

The Nuclear Pairing Gap, How Low Can it Go? B. A. Brown, Phys. Rev. Lett. 111, 162502 (2013).

New USD Hamiltonians for the sd Shell, B.A. Brown and W.A. Richter, Phys. Rev.C 74, 034315 (2006)

B.A., Physics,Ohio State University,1970

M.S., Physics,SUNY Stony Brook,1972

Ph.D., Physics, SUNY Stony Brook,1974

Joined NSCL in January 1982

brown@nscl.msu.edu

Alex BrownProfessor of PhysicsTheoretical Nuclear Physics

My research in theoretical nuclear physics is motivated by broad questions in science: What are the fundamental particles of matter? What are the fundamental forces and their symmetries that govern their interactions? How were the elements formed during the evolution of the Universe? How do the simplicities observed in many-body systems emerge from their underlying microscopic properties?

The diverse activities within our nuclear theory group, coupled with the forefront experimental work in nuclear structure, nuclear reactions and nuclear astrophysics at NSCL provide the perfect environment for the development of new theoretical ideas. I also have collaborations with theoretical and experimental groups in many countries including Germany, France, England, Italy, Norway, Japan and South Africa.

I pursue the development of new analytical and computational tools for the description of nuclear structure, especially for nuclei far from stability. The basic theoretical tools include the configuration-interaction and energy-density functional methods. I work with collaborators to developed software for desktop computing as well for high-performance computing.

Specific topics of interest include: the structure of light nuclei, nuclei near the driplines, di-proton decay, proton and neutron densities, double β decay, tests of unitarity from Fermi β-decay, isospin non-conservation, anapole moments and parity non-conservation, neutrino-nucleus interactions, quantum chaos and the rapid-proton capture process in astrophysics.

Selected PublicationsA Strong Shallow Heat Source In the Accreting Neutron Star MAXI J0556-332,” A. Deibel, A. Cumming, E.F. Brown, and D. Page, Astrophys. Jour. Lett., 809, L31 (2015).

Strong neutrino cooling by cycles of electron capture and β- decay in neutron star crusts, H. Schatz et al., Nature, 505, 62 (2014)

The Equation of State from Observed Masses and Radii of Neutron Stars, A. W. Steiner, J. M. Lattimer, and E. F. Brown, Astrophys. J. 722, 33 (2010)

Mapping Crustal Heating with the Cooling Lightcurves of Quasi-Persistent Transients, E. F. Brown and A. Cumming, Astrophys. J. 698, 1020 (2009).

Possible Resonances in the 12C+12C Fusion Rate and Superburst Ignition, R.L. Cooper, A.W. Steiner, and E.F. Brown, Astrophys. Jour., 702, 660 (2009)

B.S. Physics, The Ohio State University, 1993

M.S., Physics,University of California,

Berkeley, 1996

Ph.D., Physics, University of California,

Berkeley, 1999

Joined NSCL in February 2004

browne@nscl.msu.edu

Edward BrownProfessor of Physics

Theoretical Nuclear Astrophysics

High-energy and nuclear astrophysics are truly in a golden period. I conduct theoretical research in the exciting area of compact stars, neutron stars and white dwarfs. Neutron stars are the most dense objects in nature, and have long fascinated astronomers and physicists alike. With X-ray telescopes such as Chandra and XMM to study these objects, nuclear experiments such as heavy-ion collisions to study the nuclear force, and the promise of gravitational wave detectors such as LIGO, our knowledge of these enigmatic objects and the nature of dense matter is rapidly improving. Many neutron stars accrete gas from a binary, solar-like companion. As this gas accumulates on the surface of the neutron star, unstable nuclear reactions produce bursts of X-rays.

New observations of these nuclear processes provide clues about the properties of superdense matter, but these observations also challenge our understanding of how the fuel is accreted and burned. Particularly exciting are the recently discovered “superbursts,” energetic explosions that are believed to be powered by unstable fusion of carbon-12. The “crust” of the neutron star, where the density is less than nuclear, must be sufficiently hot in order for the superburst to ignite. By studying these superbursts we can learn about the physics of the core, which cools by emitting neutrinos.

Recently, I have collaborated on the first calculation of electron captures in the crust of an accreting neutron star using realistic nuclear physics input, and have investigated the “sinking” of heavy nuclei in the outer layers. These calculations quantified the heating of the neutron star from these reactions, and the results have been used in simulations of the “freezing” of ions into a lattice in the neutron star crust. A surprise from these simulations is that the “ashes” of these

bursts chemically separate as they are compressed to high densities. In an exciting new development, a superburst was detected from an intermittently, or transient, accreting neutron star. Because the crust cools when the neutron star is not accreting, it was previously thought that superbursts could not occur in this system, because the temperature in the crust would be too cool for carbon-12 fusion to occur.

Cutaway of the neutron star in MAXI J0556-332. During accretion, the outermost kilometer of the neutron star—its crust—is heated by compression-induced reactions (inset plot, which shows the temperature within the crust over a span of 500 days). When accretion halts (at time 0 in the plot), the crust cools. By monitoring the surface temperature during cooling, Deibel et al. determined that a strong heat source must be located at a relatively shallow depth of approximately 200 meters.

Selected Publications

S.M. Couch, E. Chatzopoulos, W.D. Arnett, F.X. Timmes, “The Three-dimensional Evolution to Core Collapse of a Massive Star,” Astrophysical Journal Letters, 808, L21 (2015)

S.M. Couch, C.D. Ott, “The Role of Turbulence in Neutrino-driven Core-collapse Supernova Explosions,” Astrophysical Journal, 799, 5 (2015)

S.M. Couch, E.P. O’Connor, “High-resolution Three-dimensional Simulations of Core-collapse Supernovae in Multiple Progenitors,” Astrophysical Journal, 785, 123 (2014)

S.M. Couch, C.D. Ott, “Revival of the Stalled Core-collapse Supernova Shock Triggered by Precollapse Asphericity in the Progenitor Star,” Astrophysical Journal Letters, 778, L7 (2013)

Ph.D., Astrophysics, The University of Texas

at Austin, 2010

M.A., Astrophysics, The University of Texas at

Austin, 2008

Joined NSCL in June 2015

couch@nscl.msu.edu

Sean CouchAssistant Professor of Physics

Theoretical Nuclear Astrophysics

My research centers around unraveling the mystery of how massive stars explode at the end of their lives. Such core-collapse supernova explosions are responsible for the production of most of the elements beyond hydrogen and helium throughout the Universe and play a crucial role in providing feedback mechanisms to galaxy and star formation. While supernovae are observed routinely to occur in galaxies near and far, the physical mechanism that drives these energetic explosions remains unclear. My study of the core-collapse supernova mechanism uses cutting-edge computational methods executed on the world’s largest supercomputers.

The most promising candidate for the supernova explosion mechanism is the so-called “delayed neutrino heating” mechanism. Neutrinos carry away nearly all of the gravitational binding energy released via the collapse of the stellar core, about 100 times the energy necessary to drive robust supernova explosions. The trouble is that neutrinos have an incredibly tiny cross section for interaction, making extracting much of this copious energy extremely difficult. The most sophisticated 1D simulations have, for decades, shown that the neutrino mechanism fails in spherical symmetry. The situation

is somewhat more promising in 2D and 3D wherein a handful of self-consistent explosions have been obtained, but these explosions tend to be marginal.

Much of my recent work has focussed on the role of turbulence in the supernova mechanism. Turbulence behind the stalled supernova shock, driven by the neutrino heating, is extremely strong and violent. This turbulence exerts an effective pressure on the stalled shock that can revival the background thermal pressure. This is a huge effect that is completely missing from 1D calculations! My collaborators and I showed that 2D and 3D calculations require much less neutrino heating to reach explosions precisely because of this turbulent pressure helping to push the shock out. I am currently investigating the requirements for accurately modeling turbulence in the simulations of the supernova mechanism.

Another aspect of my research is understanding how convection in the cores of supernova progenitor stars can influence the explosion mechanism. How strong such convection is in real massive stars was uncertain since the state-of-the-art in supernova progenitor calculations is still 1D models. My collaborators and I made the first steps forward in addressing these issues by carrying out the world’s first 3D supernova progenitor simulation, directly calculating the final three minutes in the life of a massive star all the way to the point of gravitational core collapse. We showed that the resulting strongly aspherical progenitor structure was more favorable for successful CCSN explosion than an otherwise identical 1D progenitor.

Together with my collaborators around the country, I am leading a cutting edge effort to produce the world’s first and most realistic 3D supernova progenitor models. This work involves the combination of best-in-class open-source stellar evolution modeling codes with a 3D nuclear combustion hydrodynamics code, and the world’s fastest supercomputers.

Selected PublicationsSymmetry Energy III: Isovector Skins, Pawel Danielewicz, Pardeep Singh and Jenny Lee, Nucl. Phys. A 958, 147 (2017)

Subthreshold pion production within a transport description of central Au+Au collisions, Jun Hong and Pawel Danielewicz, Phys. Rev. C 90, 024605 (2014)

Symmetry Energy II: Isobaric Analog States, Pawel Danielewicz and Jenny Lee, Nucl. Phys. A 922, 1 (2014)

Towards a nonequilibrium Green’s function description of nuclear reactions: one-dimensional mean-field dynamics, A. Rios, B. Barker, M. Buchler and P. Danielewicz, Ann. Phys. (N.Y.) 326, 1274 (2011)

Symmetry Energy I: Semi-Infinite Matter, P. Danielewicz and J. Lee, Nucl. Phys. A 818, 36 (2009)

M.S., Physics,Warsaw University,

1977

Ph.D., Physics, Warsaw University,

1981

Joined NSCL in September 1988

danielewicz@nscl.msu.edu

Pawel DanielewiczProfessor of Physics

Theoretical Nuclear Physics

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My research is in nuclear theory with emphasis on central energetic reactions of heavy nuclei. I am interested in many-body theory tied to these reactions, such the nonequilibrium Green’s function theory, and in the bulk nuclear properties that impact the behavior of matter in these reactions, such as the equation of state (EOS) of matter with equal numbers of neutrons and protons and the symmetry energy. The latter quantifies changes in the EOS tied to neutron-proton imbalance.

The nonequilibrium Green’s function theory offers the possibility of describing the nuclear collisions in a consistent quantal manner. The theory is interdisciplinary in that it is exploited in vastly different areas such as the early cosmology, molecular bridges in chemistry, transport across small electronic devices, and interactions of lasers with matter. With my collaborators we are now can study collisions of nuclear slabs in one dimension using the nonequilibrium Green’s functions. Serious computational challenges still need to be resolved to reach the three dimensions.

Symmetry energy is the difference in the nuclear energy between systems with different numbers of neutrons and protons and with the same numbers. When properly normalized it becomes independent of the actual neutron-proton imbalance, but depends on net nucleon density. It affects a variety of nuclear properties and phenomena, including the distributions of neutrons and protons in the ground state nuclei, the collective oscillations of neutrons against protons in nuclei, the dynamics of neutron-proton imbalance in collisions of heavy nuclei, structure of neutron stars and dynamics of neutron-star mergers.

Given the varied impact of the symmetry energy, it provokes different communities in nuclear physics to talk together. Observations in different nuclear fields can be used to infer the energy characteristics. When opportunities exist in an adjacent field, they may motivate a shift in focus and, in my case motivated explorations in structure and in direct reactions. Observations tied to nuclei in their ground state can only provide information on symmetry energy at densities up to normal density, i.e. that characteristic for nuclear centers. Central collisions of heavy nuclei are an exclusive tool for creating nuclear matter in the laboratory at densities higher than normal and for testing the properties of matter there. The collisions have a complicated history and the learning on the properties requires both the use of sophisticated observables and comparisons to careful transport modeling of the collisions. Those require a close collaboration between theory and experiment that I wholeheartedly engage in and that generally typifies our Laboratory.

Collision of nuclear slabs within the nonequilibrium Green’s function approach. Evolution of slab density is shown with time increasing from left to right.

Selected PublicationsA proton density bubble in the doubly-magic nucleus 34Si, A. Mutschler et al., Nature Physics 13, 152 (2017)

One-neutron pickup into 49Ca: Bound neutron g9/2 spectroscopic strength at N=29, A. Gade et al., Phys. Rev. C 93, 031601(R) (2016)

Shape coexistence in neutron-rich nuclei, A. Gade and S.N. Liddick, J. Phys. G: Nucl. Part. Phys. 43, 024001 (2016)

Nuclear Structure Towards N=40 60Ca: In-Beam γ-Ray Spectroscopy of 58,60Ti, A. Gade et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 112, 112503 (2014)

Quadrupole collectivity beyond N=28: Intermediate-energy Coulomb excitation of 47,48Ar, R. Winkler et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 108, 182501 (2012).

M.S., Nuclear Physics,University of Cologne,

1998

Ph.D., Physics, University of Cologne,

2002

Joined NSCL in April 2002

gade@nscl.msu.edu

Alexandra GadeProfessor of PhysicsNSCL Chief Scientist

Experimental Nuclear Physics

The structure of the atomic nucleus at the extremes of neutron-proton asymmetry is presently the focus of my research interest. Short-lived, radioactive nuclei that are composed of many more neutrons than protons, for example, often reveal surprising properties. The shape, the excitation pattern as well as the energy and occupation of the nucleus’ quantum mechanical orbits by protons and neutrons may be significantly altered compared to expectations that are based on the well-known properties of stable nuclei.

My group performs scattering experiments to characterize the bulk effects of these changes by assessing the deformation of a nucleus and its excitation pattern. Nucleon knockout or pickup experiments track these exciting modifications of the nuclear structure on the level of the neutron and proton orbits that make up the nucleus on a microscopic level.

In the grazing collision of an exotic projectile beam with a light target one or two protons or neutrons can be removed in direct, so-called knockout reaction. The heavy residue of this reaction is identified and its kinematics measured with NSCL’s large-acceptance S800 spectrograph. Spectroscopy of de-excitation γ-rays performed with NSCL’s segmented germanium array SeGA around the target then tells us if the reaction led to an excited state. The energy of the detected γ-rays measures the energy difference between two nuclear states and its intensity tells us how likely the state was actually populated in such a knockout reaction.

In intermediate-energy Coulomb excitation, the exotic nuclei are scattered off a stable gold target and excited in the electromagnetic Coulomb field of the target nuclei. Excited energy levels decay back by the emission of γ- radiation, which photon detectors surrounding the target

register. The energy of the γ-ray reveals the energy of the excited state and its intensity relates to the probability of the excitation process. This probability increases with increased deformation of the nucleus and thus provides a method to characterize the nuclear shape.

The results from those experiments are often surprising and reveal that exciting changes take place in the structure of exotic nuclei compared to stable species. We work in close collaboration with nuclear structure theorists and reaction theorists. Our experimental input helps to unravel the driving forces behind the often spectacular modifications in nuclear structure and adds to the improvement of modern theories that are aimed to provide a model of the atomic nucleus with predictive power also in the exotic regime.

Reaction residues generated in the collision of a 38Si beam with a 9Be target. Energy loss versus flight time allows for unambiguous identification of all produced nuclei. The exotic nucleus of interest in this experiment was 36Mg which has twice as many neutrons as protons.

γ-ray energy spectrum detected in coincidence with 36Mg. The peak at 660 keV energy constitutes the first measurement of the energy of the first excited state in 36Mg, the heaviest Mg isotope studied with γ-ray spectroscopy to date.

Selected PublicationsV. Ganni, P. Knudsen, “Optimal Design and Operation of Helium Refrigeration Systems Using the Ganni Cycle,” Advances in Cryogenic Engineering 55, American Institute of Physics, New York (2010), 1057-1071.

V. Ganni, et al, “Compressor System for the 12 GeV Upgrade at Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility”, Proceedings of the 23rd International Cryogenic Engineering Conference, Wroclaw, Poland, July 19-23, 2010, 859-863.

V. Ganni, et al, “Application of JLab 12 GeV Helium Refrigeration System for the FRIB Accelerator at MSU,” Advances in Cryogenic Engineering 59, American Institute of Physics, New York (2014).

V. Ganni, et al, “Helium Refrigeration Considerations for Cryomodule Design,” Advances in Cryogenic Engineering 59, American Institute of Physics, New York (2014).

M.S. Mechanical Engineering, Thermal Sciences, University of Wisconsin at Madison, 1976

Ph.D., Mechanical Engineering, Thermal Sciences, Oklahoma State University at Stillwater, 1979

Joined NSCL in August 2016

ganni@frib.msu.edu

Venkatarao GanniProfessor of Mechanical EngineeringDirector for MSU Cryogenic InitiativeAccelerator Engineering

The superconducting accelerators require helium cryogenic systems. The MSU-FRIB and many present day accelerators utilize Superconducting Radio Frequency (SRF) technologies and require 2 K cryogenic systems that are complex and extremely energy intensive. Many of the components for the cryogenic systems are adopted with limited research from commercial refrigeration systems, presenting a considerable opportunity for advancements in efficiency and reliability. The selection of the operating temperature is a multi-disciplinary and iterative optimization that has not yet been fully integrated in to these systems designs. Sub-system R&D and integrated multi-disciplinary design optimization is pivotal for efficient operation that provides high availability, reliability, maintainability and upgradability for the future accelerators and user facilities. My research activities have been focused on advancement of thermodynamic principles and theories applied to cryogenic cycles, cryogenic systems and the related component development. Most of the research topics have been in the applied sciences related to cryogenic systems and they include thermodynamic exergy studies, heat exchangers, turbo machinery, screw compressors, sub-atmospheric pumping systems, control theories and instrumentation for these systems.

Many of the recent cryogenic systems installed or under construction have adopted practical advancements resulting from these theories, including the Ganni Cycle - Floating Pressure Technology. These complex cryogenic systems benefit immensely from these and other advancements in regards to the system efficiency, reliability and reducing both the initial and operating costs. These include, the cryogenic systems for the superconducting accelerators at Jefferson Lab (JLab) in Newport News, the SNS at Oak Ridge, RHIC at BNL, MSU-FRIB at East Lansing, LCLS-II at Stanford, and the James Webb Telescope Ground Testing facility at NASA in Houston.

Many years of working in industry and accelerator laboratories, as well as, building, commissioning and operation of these helium refrigeration systems for many of the particle accelerators, increased my curiosity for a deeper understanding of the thermodynamic principles in order to improve the efficiency, reliability and operational flexibility.

Development of practical and new cryogenic systems and components needed for the efficient and reliable operation of superconducting accelerators is my primary interest. My activities at FRIB presently concern sub-system components required for small scale 2-K helium refrigeration systems, small scale 2-K helium refrigeration system development, freeze-out purifiers for helium gas purification, and a controlled cool-down and warmup system for the FRIB fragment separator area magnets.

Selected Publications

The In-Medium Similarity Renormalization Group: A Novel Ab Initio Method for Nuclei, H. Hergert, S. K. Bogner, T. D. Morris, A. Schwenk and K. Tsukiyama,Phys. Rept. 621, 165 (2016)

Ground and excited states of doubly open-shell nuclei from ab initio valence-space Hamiltonians, S. R. Stroberg, H. Hergert, J. D. Holt, S. K. Bogner and A. Schwenk, Phys. Rev. C 93, 051301(R) (2016)

Ab Initio Multi-Reference In-Medium Similarity Renormalization Group Calculations of Even Calcium and Nickel Isotopes, H. Hergert et al., Phys. Rev. C90, 041302 (2014)

Nonperturbative Shell-Model Interactions from the In-Medium Similarity Renormalization Group, S. Bogner, H. Hergert et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 113, 142501 (2014)

Ph. D., Physics, TU Darmstadt, Germany, 2008

Joined NSCL in 2014

hergert@nscl.msu.edu

Heiko HergertAssistant Professor of PhysicsTheoretical Nuclear Physics

Atomic nuclei are among nature’s most fascinating, and at the same time, most confounding objects. This is mainly due to the complicated nature of the strong interaction. Its fundamental theory in the Standard Model is Quantum Chromodynamics (QCD), which describes interactions of quarks and gluons. While deceptively easy to write down, QCD is very hard to solve. Describing nuclei based on QCD is even more challenging, because nucleons are composite objects that have a complicated quark and gluon substructure themselves.

The interplay of complicated nuclear interactions and quantum-mechanical many-body effects gives rise to a rich variety of nuclear phenomena, especially in exotic nuclei that are the focus of the experimental program at NSCL/FRIB. A reliable theoretical framework is required to support the experimental efforts, e.g., in the analysis of data or the planning of future experiments.

Ab initio (i.e., first-principles) nuclear many-body theory seeks to provide such a framework, by combining

• nuclear interactions from chiral effective field theory (EFT), which are formulated in terms of nucleons instead of quarks, but maintain a stringent link with QCD,

• renormalization group (RG) methods to tune the resolution scale and facilitate the practical aspects of a many-body calculation, and

• efficient techniques to solve the many-body Schrödinger equation.

An important feature of this approach is that we control the theoretical uncertainties of each aspect of a calculation, and are able to make systematic improvements to reduce the theoretical error bar. While open issues remain, this provides us with a natural road map towards a predictive model of nuclei.

My own work focuses on the aforementioned RG and many-body techniques. By developing efficient new methods, my colleagues and I have extended the range of accessible nuclei from light isotopes like carbon (atomic number 6) to tin (atomic number 50). After achieving this for isolated “magic” nuclei, the counterpart to chemistry’s noble gases, I am now developing tools to calculate the properties of entire chains of so-called open-shell nuclei, and increase the number of accessible isotopes more than tenfold.

My research program offers many opportunities for collaboration with experimental colleagues at NSCL/FRIB. The confrontation of our calculations with new experimental data will also allow us to diagnose and resolve issues of the chiral interactions, in collaboration with EFT practitioners.

Computation is an important aspect of my work. Calculations are performed on systems ranging from mid-size computing clusters to massively parallel supercomputers. Ensuring the good use of high-performance computing resources despite the continuously changing architectures is a challenge, and relying on the hardware alone for performance is not enough. For instance, one of the biggest practical obstacles we face are the massive memory requirements of three-nucleon interactions, which cannot be met by even the largest supercomputers. To overcome such limitations and increase efficiency, I am also working on improving the algorithms and numerical techniques used by ab initio practitioners.

Collaborations with computer scientists, e.g., at MSU’s new Department of Computational Mathematics, Science, and Engineering, are essential to achieve these goals, and provide opportunities to obtain a dual degree for interested Ph. D. students. Moreover, I am a member of the NUCLEI project, a national collaborative effort between nuclear theorists, computer scientists, and mathematicians that is supported by the Department of Energy’s SciDAC (Scientific Discovery Through Advanced Computing) program.

Selected PublicationsEvolution of Shell Structure in Neutron-Rich Calcium Isotopes, G. Hagen et al, Phys. Rev. Lett. 109, 032502 (2012).

Quenching of Spectroscopic Factors for Proton Removal in Oxygen Isotopes, Ø. Jensen et al, Phys. Rev. Lett. 107, 032501 (2011).

Ab initio computation of the energies of circular quantum dots, M. Pedersen Lohne et al, Phys. Rev. B 84, 115302 (2011).

The carbon challenge. M. Hjorth-Jensen, Physics 4, 38 (2011).

Pairing in nuclear systems: from neutron stars to finite nuclei, D. J. Dean and M. Hjorth-Jensen, Rev. Mod. Phys. 75, 607 (2003).

M.S., Science, Norwegian University of Science and Technology1988

Ph.D., Theoretical Nuclear Physics, University of Oslo1993

Joined NSCL in January 2012

hjensen@nscl.msu.edu

Morton Hjorth-JensenProfessor of PhysicsTheoretical Nuclear Physics

I am a theoretical physicist with an interest in many-body theory in general, and the nuclear many-body problem and nuclear structure problems in particular. This means that I study various methods for solving either Schroedinger’s equation or Dirac’s equation for many interacting particles, spanning from algorithmic aspects to the mathematical properties of such methods. The latter also leads to a strong interest in computational physics as well as computational aspects of quantum mechanical methods. A large fraction of my work, in close collaboration with colleagues at the NSCL and worldwide, is devoted to a better understanding of various quantum mechanical algorithms. This activity leads to strong overlaps with other scientific fields. Although the main focus has been and is on many-body methods for nuclear structure problems, I have also done, and continue to do, research on solid state physics systems in addition to studies of the mathematical properties of various many-body methods.

Why the nuclear many-body problem, you may ask. Well, for me, to understand why matter is stable, and thereby shed light on the limits of nuclear stability, is one of the overarching aims and intellectual challenges of basic research in nuclear physics and science. To relate the stability of matter to the underlying fundamental forces and particles of nature as manifested in nuclear matter is central to present and planned rare isotope facilities.

Examples of important properties of nuclear systems that can reveal information about these topics are masses (and thereby binding energies), and density distributions of nuclei. These are quantities that convey important information on the shell structure of nuclei with their pertinent magic numbers and shell closures, or the eventual disappearance of the latter away from the valley of stability.

Neutron-rich nuclei are particularly interesting. As a particular chain of isotopes becomes more and more neutron rich, one reaches finally the limit of stability, the so-called dripline, where one additional neutron makes the next

isotopes unstable with respect to the previous ones. The figure here (taken from Phys. Rev. Lett. 109, 032502 (2012)) shows an example of a recent many-body calculation of the chain of calcium isotopes, including three-body forces, a much debated and studied issue in nuclear many-body theory. These calculations predict the dripline of the calcium isotopes at mass 60, partly in conflict with present results from mean-field and mass models used in astrophysical calculations. To understand of the limits of stability of the calcium isotopes is one of the benchmarks experiments of FRIB at the NSCL.

Finally, I have always had, and have, a strong interest in educational matters. At the University of Oslo (I have the privilege to share my time between the University of Oslo and MSU) I have been very much involved in a large project called Computing in Science Education which deals with the introduction of computing in basic science courses as a way to enhance research based teaching, and hopefully lead to a better insight of physical systems. I’d be more than happy to discuss such matters as well.

An example of a recent many-body calculation of the chain of calcium isotopes, including three-body forces, a much debated and studied issue in nuclear many-body theory.

Selected PublicationsEvolution of collectivity in 72Kr; evidence for rapid shape transition; H.Iwasaki, A.Lemasson, et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 112 (2014) 142502.

Observation of mutually enhanced collectivity in self-conjugate 76Sr, A.Lemasson, H.Iwasaki et al., Phys. Rev. C85, 041303(R) (2012)

“Enhanced Quadrupole Collectivity at N=40: The Case of Neutron-Rich Fe Isotopes” W.Rother, A.Dewald, H.Iwasaki et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 106, 022502 (2011)

Breakdown of the Z=8 Shell Closure in Unbound 12O and its Mirror Symmetry,D. Suzuki, H. Iwasaki et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 103, 152503 (2009)

Low-Lying Neutron Intruder State in 13B and the Fading of the N = 8 Shell Closure, H. Iwasaki et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 102, 202502 (2009)

M.S., Physics, University of Tokyo,

1998

Ph.D., Physics, University of Tokyo,

2001

Joined NSCL in September 2009

iwasaki@nscl.msu.edu

Hironori IwasakiAssociate Professor of Physics

Experimental Nuclear Physics

My research focuses on spectroscopy of exotic nuclei far from stability. Unstable nuclei with unusual proton-to-neutron ratios, called as “exotic nuclei”, often exhibit surprising phenomena such as nuclear halo and shape coexistence, presenting important challenges for our understanding of atomic nuclei. The goal of present-day nuclear physics is to establish the unified understanding of nuclear structure for stable and exotic nuclei. New experimental results with rare isotope beams serve as vigorous tests for modern nuclear theories, as well as providing answers to questions concerning the nature of neutron stars and the origin of the elements in the Universe. Nuclear structure information can also be used to test fundamental symmetries that describe the weak and strong forces in nature.

At NSCL, my group performs in-beam gamma and particle spectroscopy with rare isotope beams, with a current focus on lifetime measurements of nuclear excited states. Lifetimes of bound excited states are directly related to transition probabilities between the states, which provide sensitive probes for anomalies in the structure of exotic nuclei. For unbound levels, lifetimes can be associated with the energy uncertainties to be measured as the resonance widths, which play important roles in the stability of extreme quantum systems as well as in nuclear reaction rates of astrophysical interest.

Recently, a new plunger device TRIPLEX (TRIple PLunger for EXotic beams, Fig.1) dedicated for the recoil-distance Doppler-shift measurements has been developed. The device uses three thin metal foils separated by very precise distances. In this approach, Coulomb excitation or knockout reactions are used to populate excited states in exotic, projectile-like reaction residues that decay in flight after traveling a distance related to its lifetime. Two degraders are positioned downstream of the target to reduce the velocity of the ion. As a consequence, gamma-rays emitted behind each foil have different Doppler shifts. The lifetime of the state can be determined using relative gamma-ray yields measured at different foil separations. As an example,

a result from recent GRETINA campaign experiment on 74Kr is shown in Fig.2. In 74Kr, a strong competition between prolate and oblate shapes has been suggested, and lifetime information obtained from the spectrum confirms this exotic nature of 74Kr.

(1) The TRIPLEX plunger device.

(2) Energy spectrum of γ rays measured in coincidence with 74Kr. The spectrum clearly shows the fast (f), reduced (r), and slow (s) components in the recoil-distance measurement, indicating sensitivities to different lifetimes of the excited states.

Selected Publications1A. Rokash, E. Epelbaum, H. Krebs and D. Lee, “Effective forces between quantum bound states,” Phys. Rev. Lett. 118, 232502 (2017).

S. Elhatisari et al., “Nuclear binding near a quantum phase transition,” Phys. Rev. Lett. 117, no. 13, 132501 (2016).

S. Elhatisari, D. Lee, G. Rupak, E. Epelbaum, H. Krebs, T. A. Lähde, T. Luu and U.-G. Meißner, “Ab initio alpha-alpha scattering,” Nature 528, 111 (2015).

E. Epelbaum, H. Krebs, T. A. Lähde, D. Lee and U.-G. Meißner, “Viability of Carbon-Based Life as a Function of the Light Quark Mass,” Phys. Rev. Lett. 110, no. 11, 112502 (2013).

E. Epelbaum, H. Krebs, T. A. Lähde, D. Lee and U.-G. Meißner, “Structure and rotations of the Hoyle state,” Phys. Rev. Lett. 109, 252501 (2012).

Ph.D., Physics, Harvard University, 1998

Joined NSCL in August 2017

leed@nscl.msu.edu

Dean LeeProfessor of PhysicsTheoretical Nuclear Physics

How do we connect fundamental physics to forefront experiments?

With new science waiting to be discovered at the Facility for Rare Isotope Beams (FRIB) and the dawning of the era of exascale supercomputing, this is a profound challenge and opportunity for nuclear theory. The Lee Research Group works to understand the nature and origins of matter by crafting new approaches that link quantum chromodynamics and electroweak theory to precise predictions for nuclear structure and reactions relevant to the FRIB science mission.

One of the methods we have developed with collaborators is lattice effective field theory. Effective field theory (EFT) is an organizing principle for the interactions of a complex system at low energies. When applied to low-energy protons and neutrons in a formulation called chiral effective field theory, it functions as an expansion in powers of the nucleon momenta and the pion mass. Lattice EFT combines this theoretical framework with lattice methods and Monte Carlo algorithms that are applicable to few-body systems, heavier nuclei, and infinite matter. The Lee Research Group is part of the Nuclear Lattice EFT Collaboration, which has been pioneered many of the theoretical ideas and methods now being used in lattice EFT calculations.

Some of the topics we have recently addressed are model-independent probes of nuclear clustering, nuclear physics near a quantum phase transition, connections between nuclear forces and nuclear structure, and the adiabatic projection method for nuclear scattering and reactions. We are always looking to work with experimentalists and theorists on new ideas and creative ways to collaborate. If you are interested in working in or with our group, please email leed@nscl.msu.edu anytime.

“Strive to understand the physics so well that surprises are not mistakes but new discoveries.”

Selected PublicationsS. Lidia, “Instrumentation and Challenges at FRIB”, Presented at the 54th ICFA Advanced Beam Dynamics Workshop, HB2014, East Lansing, MI, November, 2014.

P.A. Ni, F.M. Bieniosek, E. Henestroza and S. M. Lidia, “A multi-wavelength streak-optical-pyrometer for warm-dense matter experiments at NDCX-I and NDCX-II”, Nucl. Instrum. Methods Phys. Res. A 733 (2014), 12-17.

J. Coleman, S.M. Lidia, et. al., “Single-pulse and multipulse longitudinal phase space and temperature measurements of an intense ion beam”, Phys. Rev. ST Accel. Beams 15, 070101 (2012).

Y. Sun, S. Lidia, et. al., “Generation of angular-momentum-dominated electron beams from a photoinjector”, Phys. Rev. ST Accel. Beams 7, 123501 (2004).

T. Houck and S. Lidia, “Beam dynamics experiments to study the suppression of transverse instabilities”, Phys. Rev. ST Accel. Beams 6, 030101 (2003).

Ph.D. Physics, University of California at Davis, 1999.

Joined NSCL in August 2016

lidia@frib.msu.edu

Steven LidiaSenior Physicist and Adjunct Professor of PhysicsAccelerator Physics

Contemporary and planned accelerators are pushing against several development frontiers. Facilities like the Facility for Rare Isotope Beams, the European Spallation Source, FAIR@GSI, IFMIF, SARAF, and others are currently expanding the limits of the intensity frontier of proton and heavy ion beams. These high intensity hadron beams are intrinsically useful for nuclear science as they permit exploration of low cross section reactions with reasonable experimental data collection rates. These same beams, however, also present distinct hazards to machine operation from uncontrolled beam losses. Optimum scientific performance of these facilities requires us to predict and measure the behavior of intense beams.

The development of diagnostic techniques and advanced instrumentation allows the accelerator scientist to create and to tune beamlines that preserve beam quality measures while allowing for precise manipulation and measurement of the beam’s energy, intensity, trajectory, isotope content, and phase space density and correlations. We utilize sophisticated codes to model the dynamics of multi-component particle beams and their electromagnetic and nuclear interaction with materials and devices. We then design sensor devices and components that enable us to make specific measurements of beam parameters. These sensors are paired with electronic data acquisition and control systems to provide timely data to permit beam tuning and to monitor beam behavior and beamline performance. These systems are built and tested in the laboratory before commissioning with beam.

Like accelerator science, in general, development of diagnostic techniques involve the understanding and utilization of diverse subject matter from multiple physics and engineering sub-disciplines. Current projects within the group are centered on measurements to understand the behavior of intense, multi-charge state ion beams; high sensitivity and high speed sensors and networks for beam loss monitoring; accurate beam profile monitoring and tomography; non-invasive beam profile measurement techniques; prediction and measurement of beam instabilities; and development of electronics, firmware, and software to interface with these sensors.

Time-averaged phase space density measurements of 30 mA, 130 keV Li+ beam using scanning slit and slit Faraday cup.

Selected PublicationsExperimental neutron capture rate constraint far from stability, S. N. Liddick, A. Spyrou, B. P. Crider, F. Naqvi, A. C. Larsen, M. Guttormsen, M. Mumpower, R. Surman, G. Perdikakis, D. L. Bleuel, A. Couture, L. Crespo Campo, A. C. Dombos, R. Lewis, S. Mosby, S. Nikas, C. J. Prokop, T. Renstrom, B. Rubio, S. Siem, and S. J. Quinn, Phys. Rev. Lett 116, 242502 (2016). (Editor’s Suggestion)

Shape coexistence in neutron-rich nuclei, A. Gade, S.N. Liddick, J. Phys (London) G43, 024001 (2016)

New low-energy 0+ state and shape coexistence in 70Ni, C. J. Prokop, B. P. Crider, S. N. Liddick, A. D. Ayangeakaa, M. P. Carpenter, J. J. Carroll, et al Phys. Rev. C 92, 061302(R) (2015).

Shape Coexistence in Ni-68, S. Suchyta, S. N. Liddick, et al Phys. Rev. C 2014, 89, 021301(R).

B.S. Chemistry, Texas A&M University, 2001

Ph.D., Chemical Physics, Michigan State University, 2004

Joined NSCL in December 2009

liddick@nscl.msu.edu

Sean LiddickAssociate Professor of ChemistryNuclear Chemistry

The ease of transitions between different energy states of the atomic nucleus carry a wealth of information and can be used in a variety of applications from describing the basic configuration of the nucleus’ constituent protons and neutrons to constraining the synthesis of heavy elements in the energetic astrophysical events. Nuclear properties are expected to vary significantly as a function of proton or neutron number as departure is made from stable nuclei. My group focuses on characterizing transition rates of ground and excited states in nuclei as a function of proton and neutron number. Radioactive nuclei are produced and isolated at the National Superconducting Cyclotron Laboratory at Michigan State University. The nuclei of interest are deposited into a solid-state detector and their subsequent decay radiations are monitored. Decay spectroscopy provides a sensitive and selective means to populate and study low-energy excited states of daughter nuclei and a variety of different decay modes can be exploited depending on the nucleus of interest.

One branch of the groups recent experimental work has focused on 68

28Ni40. It has been predicted that multiple spin-zero states exist with significantly different intrinsic deformations in 68Ni. The energies, and decay transition rates of the excited states, can provide information on the coexisting structures. The first excited state spin-zero state of 68Ni decays through the emission of a conversion electron (photon emission is forbidden) which is delayed with respect to the populating beta-decay electron resulting in a characteristic signal shape from the solid-state detector. The energy of the conversion electron provides the energy of the excited state in 68Ni. Combined with the decay rate of the state, the strength of the transition can be determined and compared with expectations. The results confirm the theoretical picture of both single-particle and collective configurations coexisting at similar excitation energies.

Predicted abundances as a function of mass number compared to solar r-process residuals (black dots). The shaded bands show the variances in a large number of predicted abundance patterns taken from network calculations. In each calculation a variation of all neutron capture rates is applied. The shaded bands correspond to neutron capture rate uncertainties of a factor of 100 (light), 10 (middle), and 2 (dark). All but the largest abundance pattern features are obscured by the rate uncertainties at a factor of 100. Only with uncertainties smaller than a factor of 10 can fine features be observed.

The other focus of the group lies in inferring the photon strength functions (related to the photon transition rates) of highly-excited states populated in the beta-decay of a short-lived nucleus. The photon strength function combined with a knowledge of the number of nuclear states as a function of energy enables the calculation of various reactions that are expected to occur through statistical processes. One such reaction is the capture of a neutron onto the atomic nucleus increasing its mass by one unit. Neutron capture rates are a necessary ingredient to predict elemental abundances produced in energy astrophysical events, such as supernovae and neutron star mergers, which are expected to lead to the synthesis of a significant amount of the elements heavier than iron. Abundance predictions require neutron capture rate uncertainties of roughly a factor of two while current constraints can reach over two orders of magnitude. The resulting impact on abundance predictions is shown in the figure. Recent work from my group has investigated the neutron capture of 68,69Ni and the resulting impact on elemental synthesis.

Selected Publications

Envelope model for passive magnetic focusing of an intense proton or ion beam propogating through thin foils, S.M. Lund, R.H. Cohen, and P.A. Ni, Phys. Rev. ST – Accel. and Beams 16, 044202 (2013).

Sheet beam model for intense space-charge: Application to Debye screening and the distribution of particle oscillation frequencies in a thermal equilibrium beam, S.M. Lund, A. Friedman, and G. Bazouin, Phys. Rev. ST – Accel. and Beams 14, 054201 (2011).

Space-charge transport limits of ion beam in periodic quadrupole channels, S.M. Lund and S.R. Chawla, Nuc. Instr. Meth. A 561, 203-208 (2006).

Simulations of beam emittance growth from the collective relaxation of space-charge nonuniformities, S.M. Lund, D.P. Grote, and R.C. Davidson, Nuc. Instr. Meth. A 544, 472-480 (2005).

B.S. Physics Auburn University, 1987

Ph.D. Physics Massachusetts Institute of

Technology, 1992

Joined FRIB in April 2014

lund@frib.msu.edu

Steven LundProfessor of PhysicsAccelerator Physics

Charged particle accelerators have long been the driving engine of discovery in fundamental areas of physics such as high-energy physics, nuclear physics, and astrophysics as well as vital tool to probe material properties in a wide variety of manners in applied physics via accelerator driven light sources, spallation neutron sources, and microscopes. Accelerators also play a key role in applications such as materials processing, medical diagnostics and therapies, and potential advanced energy sources. This central role in science and technology has driven the field for many years and accelerator physics itself is a vibrant discipline of physics. Machines represent a tour de force on the creative use of physics and technology to produce a plethora of machines based on different concepts/architectures generating a broad range of beams for diverse applications. The field produces a rich range of applied physics problems providing opportunities for researchers and students to extend advances.

My field is theoretical accelerator physics emphasizing analytic theory and numerical modeling. Before arriving at MSU in 2014 to work on the Facility for Rare Isotope Beams (FRIB), I held a joint appointment at Lawrence Livermore and Berkeley National Labs working on physics issues associated with the transport of beams with high charge intensity, design of accelerator and trap systems, large- and small-scale numerical simulations of accelerators, support of laboratory experiments, and design of electric and magnetic elements to focus and bend beams. A common theme in my research is to identify, understand, and control processes that can degrade the quality of the beam by increasing phase-space area or can drive particle losses. Typically, laboratory experiments and support simulations identify effects, which are then further analyzed with reduced simulations and analytic theory to understand and mitigate any deleterious consequences. Graduate level teaching is used to clarify advances and place developments into context within the broader field.

At FRIB, I am presently seeking physics students with interests in charged particle dynamics, electromagnetic theory, and numerical modeling to assist me in simulations and theory in support of FRIB now under construction at MSU. The FRIB linear accelerator will deliver exceptionally high-power beams to support nuclear physics via beams of rare isotopes produced post-target. This should be one of the premier accelerator facilities for nuclear physics and will provide a fertile training ground for the next generation of accelerator physicists to join this vibrant field with broad opportunities.

Simulations on the growth of beam phase-space volume due to violent space-charge induced instabilities.

Selected Publications

Constraints on the Density Dependence of the Symmetry Energy, M.B. Tsang et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 102, 122701 (2009)

Probing the symmetry energy with heavy ions, W.G. Lynch et al., Prog. Part. Nucl. Phys. 62, 427 (2009)

Comparision of Statistical Treatments for the Equations of state for Core-collapse Supernovae, S.R. Souza et al., AP. J., 707 1495 (2009)

Determination of the Equation of State of Dense Matter, P. Danielewicz, R. Lacey, W.G. Lynch, Science 298, 1592 (2002)

Imaging Sources with Fast and Slow Emission Components, G. Verde, et al., , Phys. Rev. C 65, 054609 (2002)

B.S., Physics,University of Colorado,

1973

Ph.D., Nuclear Physics, University of Washington,

1980

Joined NSCL in December 1980

lynch@nscl.msu.edu

Bill LynchProfessor of Physics

Experimental Nuclear Physics

My research is focused upon understanding nuclear collisions and how the information derived from such collisions can improve the understanding of nuclei, nuclear matter and neutron stars. Surprising as it may seem at first, constraints on the pressures that support a neutron star can be obtained by probing the pressures that are achieved in nuclear collisions or by examining the nuclear forces that bind very neutron-rich nuclei. Such nuclear properties can be related to neutron star properties through their common dependence on the equation of state of nuclear matter, which plays the same role for nuclear systems as the ideal gas law plays for gases. Finding appropriate constraints on the nuclear equation of state requires the development of new experimental devices, new experimental measurements and theoretical developments.

One of the largest uncertainties in the nuclear equation of state concerns the symmetry energy, which describes how the energy of nuclei and nuclear matter changes as one replaces protons in a system with neutrons, making the system more and more neutron rich. In some regions in the interiors of neutron stars, matter can be of the order of 95% neutrons. Whether this matter collapses under the gravitational attraction of the neutron star depends on the repulsive pressure from the symmetry energy. Experimental measurements presently do not satisfactorily constrain the pressure from the symmetry energy. Some of our recent experiments have provided constraints on the symmetry pressure; one of our goals is to make such constraints more stringent.

Recently, our group combined five detector systems to probe the density dependence of the symmetry energy. This experiment compared the outward flow of neutrons to that of protons to probe the pressures attained by compressing neutron-rich nuclear systems in the laboratory. We have recently begun developing two time projection chambers that will enable us to probe the symmetry energy at densities twice the saturation value typical of the centers of nuclei. Students play leading roles in developing such devices. Students also play important roles in the interpretation and theoretical modeling of the data that they measure, providing them with opportunities to also probe theoretical aspects of the phenomena that they are investigating.

Selected Publications

Charge radii of neutron deficient 52,53Fe produced by projectile fragmentation, K. Minamisono, D.M. Rossi, R. Beerwerth, S. Fritzsche, D. Garand, A. Klose, Y. Liu, B. Maass, P.F. Mantica, A.J. Miller, P. Mueller, W. Nazarewicz, W. Noertershaeuser, E. Olsen, M.R. Pearson, P.-G. Reinhard, E.E. Saperstein, C. Sumithrarachchi, and S.V. Tolokonnikov, Phys. Rev. Lett. 2016, 117, 252501.

Population distribution subsequent to charge exchange of 29.85 keV Ni+ on sodium vapor, C.A. Ryder, K. Minamisono, H.B. Asberry, B. Isherwood, P.F. Mantica, A. Miller, D.M. Rossi, and R. Strum, Spectro. Acta B 2015, 113, 16.

Charge radii of neutron-deficient 36K and 37K, D. Rossi, K. Minamisono, H.B. Asberry, G. Bollen, B.A. Brown, K. Cooper, B. Isherwood, P. F. Mantica, A. Miller, D. J. Morrissey, R. Ringle, J. A. Rodriguez, C. A. Ryder, A. Smith, R. Strum, and C. Sumithrarachchi, Phys. Rev. C 2015, 92, 014305.

B.S., Chemistry,Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, 1985

Ph.D., Nuclear Chemistry,University of Maryland, College Park, 1990

Joined NSCL inAugust 1995

mantica@nscl.msu.edu

Paul ManticaUniversity Disinguished Professor of ChemistryDeputy Laboratory DirectorNuclear Chemistry

The low-energy properties of atomic nuclei are predicted to show dramatic changes when the ratio of neutrons-to-protons in the nucleus becomes extremely unbalanced. My research group is working to deduce the electromagnetic properties of nuclei which have extreme neutron-to-proton ratios. The desired nuclei, which exist for only fractions of a second, are produced in very small quantities using intermediate-energy reactions at the National Superconducting Cyclotron Laboratory (NSCL) at Michigan State University.

Two electromagnetic properties of interest are the nuclear magnetic dipole moment and nuclear electric quadrupole moment. The dipole moment is sensitive to the orbital component of the angular momentum of any unpaired protons and/or neutrons in the nucleus. The dipole moment provides information on the nuclear quantum structure and the occupied single-particle states. The quadrupole moment is a measure of the deviation of the average charge distribution of the nucleus away from spherical symmetry. The shape of the collection of protons and neutrons in the nucleus, e.g. the nuclear collectivity or “deformation”, can be inferred from the quadrupole moment.

One way to deduce the electromagnetic moments of nuclei is via Collinear Laser Spectroscopy (CLS). The CLS method involves the co-propagation of a low-energy beam (~ 60 keV) of atoms/ions with laser light. Fixed-frequency laser light is Doppler tuned into resonance by varying the energy of the beam, with the subsequent fluorescence detected by a photomultiplier tube. The resulting hyperfine spectrum, a product of the interaction of atomic electrons with the nucleus, is analyzed to extract the nuclear magnetic dipole and electric quadrupole moments.

We have installed and commissioned a CLS beam line in the low-energy experimental area at NSCL as part of the Beam Cooling and Laser Spectroscopy (BECOLA) facility. The BECOLA facility also includes a cooler and buncher, which accepts the rare isotope beams from the NSCL

beam thermalization area and converts them into a low-emittance, pulsed beam to improve the sensitivity of the CLS measurement. Stable beams of Ca, K, Sc, Mn, Fe, and Ni have been produced from off-line ion sources, and the hyperfine spectra have been collected and analyzed. We have also measured the hyperfine spectra for the short-lived radioisotopes 36,37K (depicted below) and 52,53Fe, produced at rates of order 103 per second, with the goal of understanding the trends in charge radii in the vicinity of neutron shell closures. We plan to extend the reach of such studies with the implementation of a new pulsed laser system, whereby optical pumping will be used to preferentially populate and electronic state favorable for collinear laser spectroscopy.

Charge radii for potassium isotopes. The values for the radioactive isotopes 36K (N=17) and 37K (N=18) were measured at the BECOLA facility at NSCL.

Selected PublicationsCharge radii of neutron deficient 52,53Fe produced by projectile fragmentation, K. Minamisono, et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 117, 252501 (2016).

Population distribution subsequent to charge exchange of 29.85 keV Ni+ on sodium vapor, C. A. Ryder et al., Spectrochimica Acta Part B 113, 16 (2015).

Charge radii of neutron-deficient 36K and 37K, D. M. Rossi et al., Phys. Rev. C 92, 014305 (2015).

A field programmable gate array-based time-resolved scaler for collinear laser spectroscopy with bunched radioactive potassium beams, D. M. Rossi et al., Rev. Sci. Instrum. 85, 093503 (2014).

Collinear laser spectroscopy on the ground state and an excited state in neutral 55Mn, A. K. Klose et al., Phys. Rev. A 88, 042701 (2013).

M.S., Physics,Osaka University,

1996

Ph.D., Physics,Osaka University,

1999

Joined NSCL in October 2004

minamiso@nscl.msu.edu

Kei MinamisonoResearch Senior Physicist and Adj. Professor of Physics

Experimental Nuclear Physics

One of my current research interests is to determine fundamental nuclear properties, the magnetism and shape, of radioactive isotopes away from the beta stability line and towards the nucleon drip lines in the nuclear chart. The nuclear magnetic-dipole moment arises from the orbital angular momentum and intrinsic spin, and sensitive to the valence-nucleon configuration in a nucleus. The nuclear-quadrupole moment and charge radius represent the charge distribution inside the nucleus and sensitive to the shape and onset of deformation. They are essential to gain critical insights into the driving force of the structural change in rare isotopes.

Our immediate interests are twofold: determination of unknown charge radii of radioactive Fe isotopes around neutron magic number N = 28 and towards N = 42; investigation into the abnormal behavior of variation in chains of charge radii at N = 20 around Ca region. The latter is a continuing effort in our group and we recently confirmed a monotonic variation of the charge radii of K (one proton less from Ca) isotopic chain at N = 20, whereas characteristic discontinuities in chains of charge radii are commonly seen at other nucleon magic numbers.

Hyperfine interaction is an interplay between nuclear and atomic spins/angular momenta, and results in a hyperfine structure (HFS), which contains information about nuclear moments and charge radii. Laser assisted techniques are used to measure the HFS; the collinear laser spectroscopy (CLS) and beta-ray detecting Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (bNMR). Such experimental techniques are available at the BEam COoling and LAser spectroscopy (BECOLA) facility at NSCL, where the atomic/nuclear spin manipulation for production of nuclear polarization as well as CLS with cooled/bunched beams are performed. High precision/resolution laser systems and a detection system with great sensitivity are required to resolve HFS of rare isotopes at low-production rates.

Technical development is another essential aspect of our group to enhance overall sensitivity, namely extending the reach of radioactive isotopes. Some of ongoing efforts include manipulation of atomic population in an RF ion trap, resonant laser ionization spectroscopy and offline production of stable-isotope beams for studies of laser excitation schemes.

Hyperfine structures of the radioactive 53Fe and stable 56Fe (in the inset) are shown. The spectra were measured using the bunched beam collinear laser spectroscopy technique. The pattern of resonance peaks reflects electrostatic moments of the 53Fe nucleus. The difference between the center of gravity of the 53Fe hyperfine structure and the centroid of the 56Fe spectrum is the isotope shift, from which the charge radius of 53Fe nucleus can be deduced.

Selected PublicationsPrototype AT-TPC: Toward a new generation active target time projection chamber for radioactive beam experiments, D. Suzuki, M. Ford, D. Bazin, W. Mittig, et al., Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research A 691 (2012)39

Thermo-mechanical behaviour of a single slice test device for the FRIB high power target, Pellemoine, F.; Mittig, W.;… Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research Section A, Volume 655, (2011) 3

Probing nuclear forces at the extreme of isospin: the 7H resonance, D. Cortina-Gil and W. Mittig, Europhysics News, 41/2 (2010) 23,

Resonant neutrino scattering: An impossible experiment?, D.Suzuki,T.Sumikama, M.Ogura, W.Mittig,…, Physics Letter B 687(2010)144

Docteur ès Sciences,Université de Paris,1971

Livre Docente,University of Sao Paulo,1977

Joined NSCL in January 2008

mittig@nscl.msu.edu

Wolfgang MittigJohn A. Hannah University DisinguishedProfessor of PhysicsExperimental Nuclear Physics

Since my university studies, first in Germany and later in France, I involved myself often in very general problematics, such as the foundation of quantum mechanics (Bell inequality), precision measurements to search for nuclear color-VanderWaals forces, nuclear energy and environment, formation of superheavy systems, and very recently the possibility of resonant neutrino scattering.

Recently, I was mainly working on experimental nuclear physics, and more specifically on the spectroscopy of exotic nuclei. This domain is at the frontline of present nuclear physics and is extremely challenging for an experimental physicist. Many new techniques have to be developed in order to study very rare nuclei far from stability. We developed an “active target,” a detector in which the detection gas is at the same time the target. This technique combines a large solid angle, in principle 4π, with a thick target and good resolution. The particles, beam and reaction products, are visualized by their ionization path in the gas. A detailed event-by-event analysis provides the reaction angles, Q-values, angular distributions, and excitation functions of the reactions.

At NSCL, we formed an international collaboration for the development of such a device with even increased performance called the AT-TPC to become operational in about 2 years, together with the future linear post-accelerator ReA3 for rare unstable beams, financed by the NSF. The main tasks here are to construct highly integrated electronics for the 10,000 channels (ASICs), a data-acquisition compatible with the high data flow of such a device, and a high resolution gas-amplifying device such as micromegas. A reduced size prototype was constructed and used in several experiments. The combination of this detector with the new post-accelerator will provide new and competitive possibilities to study properties of very exotic nuclei.

My other present domains of work are related to FRIB. I am working on the project of an achromatic isochronous large angle spectrometer called ISLA, and a technical R&D subject of how to have a 200kW beam energy loss in a spot of 1mm diameter in a production target,this is about 1GW/(cubic inch) without destroying it.

A schematic view of the active target time projection chamber. AT-TPC. The chamber is operated within a large bore (1.2m) solenoid, to determine the energy of the charged reaction products by the curvature of their trajectory. The image of the trajectories will be read out by ten thousand electronic channels.

Selected Publications

Modern Nuclear Chemistry, 2nd Edition, W.Loveland, D.J. Morrissey, G.T.Seaborg (Wiley, 2017)

The NSCL cyclotron gas stopper - entering commissioning, S. Schwarz, G. Bollen, S. Chouhan, J.J. Das, M. Green, C. Magsig, D.J. Morrissey, J. Ottarson, C. Sumithrarachchi, A.C.C. Villari, A. Zeller, Nucl. Instrum. Meth. B 376 (2016) 256.

Research and development of Ion Surfing RF Carpets for the Cyclotron Gas Stopper at the NSCL, A.E. Gehring, M. Brodeur, G. Bollen, D.J. Morrissey, S. Schwarz, Nucl. Instrum. Meth. B 376 (2016) 221

Harvesting 67Cu from the Collection of a Secondary Beam Cocktail at the National Superconducting Cyclotron Laboratory, T. Mastren, A. Pen, S. Loveless, B.V. Marquez, E. Bollinger, B. Marois, N. Hubley, K. Brown, D.J. Morrissey, G.F. Peaslee, S.E. Lapi, Anal. Chem. 87 (2015) 10323.

B.S., Chemistry, Pennsylvania

State University,1975

Ph.D., Chemistry,University of California,

1978

Joined NSCL in September 1981

morrissey@nscl.msu.edu

Dave MorrisseyUniversity Disinguished Professor of Chemistry

Nuclear Chemistry

Research in nuclear chemistry that is centered on the production and use of the most exotic, short-lived nuclei provides the ability to produce beams of very exotic radioactive ions. These short-lived nuclei are interesting in their own right, some of which have not been observed before. My graduate students work on unraveling the mechanisms of nuclear reactions, on studying the decay properties of the most exotic nuclei, or on developing new techniques to separate, capture and deliver exotic nuclei. The National Superconducting Cyclotron Laboratory (NSCL) is a unique facility that brings together a strong group of nuclear scientists and provides an exceptional setting for studying the properties of nuclei right on the MSU campus. The very high energy beams react with a target nuclei to produce new nuclear fragments with a distribution of sizes, some of which are very unstable and quite unusual. The probability distributions of the products and the momenta, or velocities, of the fragments are distributed around that of the beam and we have shown that they can be predicted by models of the nuclear reaction. The fast-moving fragments are passed through an isotope separator to produce beams of individual radioactive ions. We help to design and develop these fragment separators, which have become the central instruments for research at the NSCL and the Facility for Rare Ion Beams (FRIB) under construction at MSU. The NSCL currently relies on its second-generation fragment separator called the A1900 that was completed in 2001 while a revolutionary new fragment separator is being constructed for the FRIB facility that will replace the NSCL.

Along with using the new fragment separator for production and decay studies, our group has developed a series of auxiliary devices to slow down the exotic reaction products to thermal energies. The initial devices used a helium filled chamber tailored to stop and collect the exotic isotopes produced by the A1900 fragment separator. The gas is removed using a differential pumping system in a process related to atmospheric-sampling mass spectrometry. The so-called gas-catcher system was used in many successful

and extremely precise mass measurements at the NSCL carried out by the group headed by Prof. Bollen (MSU Physics). More recently the thermalized ions were used in collinear laser spectroscopy experiments, precision decay studies, and nuclear reaction studies. We are currently completing construction of a next-generation device based on the concept of a reverse cyclotron. The reaction products spiral inward towards the center of a helium-filled chamber in a strong magnetic field. The so-called cyclotron-stopper uses a four-meter diameter superconducting magnet that weighs approximately 200 tons (see below).

Photograph of the gas-filled reverse-cyclotron showing the inner chamber and electrodes used to transport the thermal ions to the center. The inner 2 meter diameter beam chamber is contained inside a 200 ton superconducting magnet. The fast particles will enter parallel to the floor from the right and be bent onto spiral paths by the magnetic field. They will slow down by collisions with helium gas and the thermalized ions will be dragged to the center and extracted.

Selected Publications

Prospects for Precision Measurements in Nuclear b Decay in the LHC era O. Naviliat-Cuncic and M. Gonzalez-Alonso, Ann. Phys. (Berlin) 525, 600 (2013)

Symmetry Tests in Nuclear Beta Decay N. Severijns and O. Naviliat-Cuncic, Annu. Rev. Nucl. Part. Sci. 61, 23 (2011)

Test of the Conserved Vector Current Hypothesis in T=1/2 Mirror Transitions and New Determination of |Vud| O. Naviliat-Cuncic and N. Severijns, Phys. Rev. Lett. 102, 142302 (2009)

Tests of the standard electroweak model in nuclear beta decay, N. Sverijns, M. Beck and O. Naviliat-Cuncic, Rev. Mod. Phys. 78, 991 (2006)

M.S., Nuclear PhysicsCath. University of Louvain,1984

Ph.D., Nuclear PhysicsCath. University of Louvain, 1989

Joined NSCL in August 2010

naviliat@nscl.msu.edu

Oscar Naviliat CuncicProfessor of PhysicsExperimental Nuclear Physics

The experimental tests of the foundations of physical theories is a cross disciplinary domain that can hardly be grabbed by any particular subfield of physics. The measurements carried out for such tests are performed using particles, nuclei, atoms, molecules or crystals, and what do concern the specific subfields are the experimental techniques being used.

My research activities have been focused on experimental tests of discrete symmetries in the weak interaction (parity violation and time reversal invariance) and in the searches for new interactions through precision measurements using muons, neutrons and nuclei, which in most cases were spin polarized. Some measurements also required the use traps, such as material-, electromagnetic-, or magneto-gravitational traps, for the confinement of particles. Precision measurements at low energies are considered an alternative route in the search for new particles and interactions as compared to that pursued at the highest possible energies, in collider experiments. In general, the principles of experiments at low energies are rather simple but the measurements are difficult and challenging. The design of new experiments requires implementing modern techniques in order to reach new levels of sensitivity.

Atomic nuclei offer a very rich spectrum of candidates for precision measurements at low energies due to the large number of isotopes, the diversity of states and the different decay modes involving the fundamental interactions. The abundant production of rare isotopes opens further the spectrum for the design of new sensitive experiments.My current activities at NSCL concern beta decay experiments using either fast or stopped beams. Fast and clean beams have made possible measurement of the energy spectra of beta particles without instrumental effects

which were present in past measurements. This enables the search for possible contributions of tensor type interactions in Gamow-Teller transitions as a signature of physics beyond the standard model. Another project is the measurement of polarization correlations in beta decay, using low energy polarized nuclei, to search for deviations from maximal parity violation. This requires the construction of a new polarimeter for positrons that will be used with beams polarized by laser optical pumping.

The intellectual creativity in the design of experiments, and in particular those addressing the foundations of physical theories, has been fascinating to me.

The test of parity (mirror symmetry) in nuclear beta decay provides a window to search for new interactions, like those which could be mediated by right-handed vector bosons.

Selected Publications

Pairing Nambu-Goldstone modes within nuclear density functional theory, N. Hinohara and W. Nazarewicz, Phys. Rev. Lett. {\bf 116}, 152502 (2016)

Impact of nuclear mass uncertainties on the r process, D. Martin, A. Arcones, W. Nazarewicz, and E. Olsen, Phys. Rev. Lett. 116, 121101 (2016)

Challenges in Nuclear Structure Theory, W. Nazarewicz, J. Phys. G 43, 044002 (2016).

Twist-averaged boundary conditions for nuclear pasta Hartree-Fock calculations,B. Schuetrumpf and W. Nazarewicz, Phys. Rev. C 92, 045806 (2015)

Microscopic modeling of mass and charge distributions in the spontaneous fission of 240-Pu, J. Sadhukhan, W. Nazarewicz, and N. Schunck, Phys. Rev. C 93, 011304(R) (2016).

M.S. Engineer in Technical Physics and Applied Mathematics

Warsaw University of Technology, 1977

Ph. D., Physics, Institute for Nuclear

Research, Warsaw, 1981

Dr. hab., Physics, Warsaw University, 1986

Joined NSCL in August 2014

witek@frib.msu.edu

Witek NazarewiczJohn A. Hannah Distinguished Professor of

Physics, Chief Scientist of FRIBTheoretical Nuclear Physics

Atomic nuclei, the core of matter and the fuel of stars, are self-bound collections of protons and neutrons (nucleons) that interact through forces that have their origin in quantum chromo-dynamics. Nuclei comprise 99.9% of all baryonic matter in the Universe. The complex nature of the nuclear forces among protons and neutrons yields a diverse and unique variety of nuclear phenomena, which form the basis for the experimental and theoretical studies. Developing a comprehensive description of all nuclei, a long-standing goal of nuclear physics, requires theoretical and experimental investigations of rare atomic nuclei, i.e. systems with neutron-to-proton ratios larger and smaller than those naturally occurring on earth. The main area of my professional activity is the theoretical description of those exotic, short-lived nuclei that inhabit remote regions of nuclear landscape. This research invites a strong interaction between nuclear physics, many-body-problem, and high- performance computing. Key scientific themes that are being addressed by my research are captured by overarching questions:

• How did visible matter come into being and how does it evolve?

• How does subatomic matter organize itself and what phenomena emerge?

• Are the fundamental interactions that are basic to the structure of matter fully understood?

• How can the knowledge and technological progress provided by nuclear physics best be used to benefit society?

Quantum Many-Body ProblemHeavy nuclei are splendid laboratories of many-body science. While the number of degrees of freedom in heavy nuclei is large, it is still very small compared to the number of electrons in a solid or atoms in a mole of gas. Nevertheless, nuclei exhibit behaviors that are emergent in nature and present in other complex systems. For instance, shell structure, symmetry breaking phenomena, collective excitations, and superconductivity are found in nuclei, atomic clusters, quantum dots, small metallic grains, and trapped atom gases.

Artists view of a neutron star that accretes matter from a companion.

Although the interactions of nuclear physics differ from the electromagnetic interactions that dominate chemistry, materials, and biological molecules, the theoretical methods and many of the computational techniques to solve the quantum many-body problems are shared. Examples are ab-initio and configuration interaction methods, and the Density Functional Theory, used by nuclear theorists to describe light and heavy nuclei and nucleonic matter.

Physics of Open SystemsToday, much interest in various fields of physics is devoted to the study of small open quantum systems, whose properties are profoundly affected by environment, i.e., continuum of decay channels. Although every finite fermion system has its own characteristic features, resonance phenomena are generic; they are great interdisciplinary unifiers. In the field of nuclear physics, the growing interest in theory of open quantum systems is associated with experimental efforts in producing weakly bound/unbound nuclei close to the particle drip-lines, and studying structures and reactions with those exotic systems. In this context, the major problem for nuclear theory is a unification of structure and reaction aspects of nuclei, which is based on the open quantum system many-body formalism.

Physics of FRIBThe Facility for Rare Isotope Beams will be a world-leading laboratory for the study of nuclear structure, reactions and astrophysics. Experiments with intense beams of rare isotopes produced at FRIB will guide us toward a comprehensive description of nuclei, elucidate the origin of the elements in the cosmos, help provide an understanding of matter in neutron stars and establish the scientific foundation for innovative applications of nuclear science to society. FRIB will be essential for gaining access to key regions of the nuclear chart, where the measured nuclear properties will challenge established concepts, and highlight shortcomings and needed modifications to current theory. Conversely, nuclear theory will play a critical role in providing the intellectual framework for the science at FRIB, and will provide invaluable guidance to FRIB’s experimental programs.

Selected Publications

Coulomb in momentum space without screening, N.J. Upadhyay, V. Eremenko, L. Hlophe, F.M. Nunes, Ch. Elster, G. Arbanas, J.E. Escher, and I.J. Thompson (TORUS Collaboration), Phys. Rev. C 90, 014615 (2014).

Nuclear Theory and Science of the Facility for Rare Isotope Beams, A.B Balantekin, J. Carlson, D.J. Dean, G.M. Fuller, R.J. Furnstahl, M. Hjorth-Jensen, R.V.F. Janssens, Bao-An Li, W. Nazarewicz, F.M. Nunes, W.E. Ormand, S. Reddy, B.M. Sherrill, M. Phys. Lett. A 29, 1430010 (2014).

The ratio method: a new tool to study halo nuclei P.Capel, R.C. Johnson and F.M. Nunes Phy. Rev. C 88, 044602 (2013).

Low temperature triple-alpha rate in a full three-body nuclear model, N.B. Nguyen, F.M. Nunes,I.J. Thompson, E. F. Brown, Phys. Rev. Lett. 109141101 (2012)

The magic nature of 132Sn explored throughthe single-particle states of 133Sn, K.L. Joneset al., Nature, 465 , 454-457 (27 May 2010)

Filomena NunesProfessor of Physics

Managing Director of FRIB Theory AlianceTheoretical Nuclear Physics

I study direct nuclear reactions and structure models that are useful in the description of reactions. Unstable nuclei are mostly studied through reactions, because they decay back to stability, often lasting less than a few seconds. My work focuses on developing models for reactions with exotic unstable nuclei. Reaction theory is very important because it makes the connection between experiments such as the ones performed at NSCL and the nuclear structure information we want to extract. Within the realm of direct reactions, my contributions have been toward understanding inelastic excitation, breakup and transfer reactions.

The motivation to study these reactions are three-fold. Breakup and transfer reactions can be used as indirect methods to obtain capture rates of astrophysical relevance. These capture rates enter in the simulations of stars, and explosive sites such as novae and supernovae. In addition, reliable models for some specific direct reactions are crucial for nuclear waste management. Finally, and most importantly, we also need reactions to unveil the hidden secrets of the effective nuclear force which binds some exotic systems and not others.

Nuclei are many body systems of large complexity. Describing a reaction while retaining all the complexity of the projectile and target nuclei would be a daunting task. Fortunately, to describe many direct reactions, only a few structure degrees of freedom are necessary. Thus, we develop simplified few-body structure models that retain the important features of the nucleus of interest and can be used as input to the reaction calculations. When comparing with the data, we learn whether our initial assumptions were correct. Given that many unstable nuclei break up so easily, the nucleus can go through the continuum (scattering states) in the reaction. Introducing breakup accurately involves computer intensive calculations, so we use the High Performance Computers at MSU.

Recently we performed three-body scattering calculations for the three alpha particles and obtained a complex structure for the Hoyle state represented above, through a probability distribution.

The strongest peak corresponds to a 8Be-alpha like structure (a) , the weaker peak to the lower right corresponds to an alpha-alpha-alpha linear structure (b) and the peak in the lower left corresponds to a triangular configuration (c).

The Hoyle state is essential for the production of 12C in stars. Three alpha particles come together to form a resonance.

Engenharia Fisica Technologica,

Instituto Superior Tecnico Lisboa,

1992

Ph.D., Theoretical Physics,

University of Surrey, England,

1995

Joined NSCL in February 2003

nunes@nscl.msu.edu

Selected Publications

Probing the Ultraviolet Luminosity Function of the Earliest Galaxies with the Renaissance Simulations, B.W. O’Shea, J.H. Wise, H. Xu, M.L. Norman, ApJL, 805, 12 (2015)

Bringing Simulation and Observation Together to Better Understand the Intergalactic Medium, H. Egan, B.D. Smith, B.W. O’Shea, J.M. Shull, ApJ, 791, 64 (2014) Dissecting Galaxy Formation Models with Sensitivity Analysis—a New Approach to Constrain the Milky Way Formation History F.A. Gomez, C. Coleman-Smith, B.W. O’Shea, J. Tumlinson, R. Wolpert, ApJ, 787, 20 (2014)

Ph.D., Physics, 2005University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

M.S., Physics, 2002University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Joined NSCL in September 2015

oshea@msu.edu

Brian O’SheaAssociate Professor of PhysicsTheoretical Nuclear Astrophysics

I am a computational and theoretical astrophysicist, and my research involves numerical simulations and analytical modeling of cosmological structure formation, the cosmic web, galaxy clusters, high-redshift galaxies, and Milky Way-type galaxies. My tools of choice are the Enzo AMR code and the yt data analysis and visualization package.

My research focuses on theoretical and numerical studies of galaxy formation and evolution, spanning a wide range of topics including the first generations of stars and galaxies, low redshift galaxies and the intergalactic medium, and galaxy clusters. My numerical work is done on the largest supercomputers in the world, including the NSF-funded Blue Waters supercomputer at the National Center for Supercomputing Applications.

I am an associate professor at Michigan State University, with a joint appointment in The Department of Computational Mathematics, Science and Engineering, the Department of Physics and Astronomy, and the National Superconducting Cyclotron Laboratory. I am also a member of the Joint Institute for Nuclear Astrophysics, the Michigan Institute for Plasma Science and Engineering, and the Great Lakes Consortium for Petascale Computation.

This is a figure of one of the first galaxies to form in the universe, from a large-scale simulation including cosmological expansion, dark matter, fluid dynamics, radiation transport, and prescriptions for the formation and feedback of stars and black holes. This image shows both stars and nebular emission from ionized gas. Image credit: John Wise, Georgia Institute of Technology.

Selected Publications

P.N. Ostroumov, A. Barcikowski, C. Dickerson, B. Mustapha, A. Perry, S. Sharamentov, R. Vondrasek, and G. Zinkann, Off-line Commissioning of EBIS and Plans for Its Integration into ATLAS and CARIBU, Rev. Sci. Instrum. 87, 02B506 (2016); http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/1.4935016

Z.A. Conway, M.P. Kelly and P.N. Ostroumov, Advanced low-beta cavity development for proton and ion accelerators, Nucl. Instrum. Methods Phys. Res. B 350, 94 (2015).

P.N. Ostroumov and F. Gerigk, Superconducting Hadron Linacs, Reviews of Accelerator Science and Technology, January 2013, Vol. 06, pp. 171-196.

Doctor of Science, Moscow Engineering Physical Institute, 1993

PhD, Institute for Nuclear Research, Moscow, 1982

Joined NSCL in August 2016

ostroumov@anl.gov

Peter N. OstroumovProfessor of PhysicsAssociate Director for Accelerator Systems DivisionAccelerator Physics and Technology

World leading research and discoveries in the field of rare isotope science require full power operation of FRIB. Operating FRIB at its full power requires a fully functional high power driver accelerator and state-of-the-art scientific equipment for production, separation, selection, charge breeding and acceleration of rare isotopes. Achieving the design goals of FRIB and further enhancement of its capabilities requires performance at the forefront of accelerator science and technology. The FRIB driver accelerator is now entering the beam commissioning stage which comes with numerous research opportunities in accelerator physics and technology. Past experience with commissioning large and unique accelerators shows that a variety of unique technical challenges must be addressed, during the installation and commissioning of major accelerator components, such as: high intensity ion sources, radio-frequency quadrupole accelerator, high-power strippers, superconducting cavities and cryomodules, beam diagnostics tools. A detailed understanding of beam physics issues coupled with SRF and other FRIB accelerator technologies is crucial for achieving the design beam power and delivery of wide selection of isotopes to the experiments. After the initial commissioning of the FRIB accelerator for operations at the design energy, a significant and innovative engineering effort may be necessary to achieve routine operation with 400 kW beam power.

Now is the right time to begin R&D for future FRIB upgrade scenarios, enabling new high-priority and high-impact research opportunities. This task requires strong communication between accelerator physicists, engineers and nuclear physicists to understand the highest priority research. The list of possible short-term and mid-term accelerator R&D goals includes the development of a cost-effective option for a high energy upgrade of the FRIB driver linac. This requires a detailed study of beam dynamics in the driver linac and the development of several options for SC cavities and cryomodules. These efforts will allow

for the selection of the most cost-effective upgrade path. Other tasks which will be pursued are the development of multi-target driver linac operation with the simultaneous acceleration of light and heavy ions; development and implementation of techniques to increase efficiency for both delivery of radioactive ion beam species to the post-accelerator and their post-acceleration. The long-term accelerator R&D will enable the best science in the world at an expanded FRIB. Another area of research is the development of ion accelerator applications for medicine and industry. Accelerator R&D topics listed above open vast opportunities to involve PhD students and post-doctoral researchers.

My whole career, which begun in the Institute for Nuclear Research in Moscow working on high power proton accelerators, is devoted to the field of accelerator science and technology. In 1999, I moved to ANL for the development of a Rare Isotope Accelerator project. My early work at ANL was related to the development and demonstration of the concept for simultaneous acceleration of multiple charge states of heavy ions in a superconducting linac. In addition, the concept for acceleration of two charge-states at low energies from the ion source was demonstrated with excellent performance in a prototype setup as shown in the figure below. In the past 7 years I have guided a group of scientists, engineers, young researchers, students and technicians who have developed and implemented several innovative accelerator systems such as high performance cryomodules, a CW RFQ with trapezoidal vane tip modulations, an EBIS for the fast and efficient breeding of radioactive ions, designed and demonstrated several new accelerating structures for ion linacs, developed and built bunch length detectors for CW ion beams, and profile and emittance measurement devices for rare isotope beams. I eagerly look forward to applying this expertise to new and challenging technical issues with students and post-docs at FRIB.

chemical evolution of the QCP from correlations driven by charge conservation. These correlations, at a quantitative level, have shown that the quark content of the matter created in heavy-ion collisions at the RHIC or at the LHC indeed have roughly the expected densities of up, down and strange quarks. Other work has included transport tools, such as hydrodynamics and Boltzman distributions, as applied to relativistic collisions, and methods for exact calculations of canonical ensembles with complicated sets of converted charges.

From 2009 through 2015, I am the principal investigator for the Models and Data Analysis Initiative (MADAI) collaboration, which was funded by the NSF through the Cyber-Enabled Discovery and Innovation initiative. MADAI involves nuclear physicists, cosmologists, astrophysicists, atmospheric scientists, statisticians and visualization experts from MSU, Duke and the University of North Carolina. The goal is to develop statistical tools for comparing large heterogenous data sets to sophisticated multi-scale models. In particular, I have worked to use data from RHIC and the LHC to extract fundamental properties of the matter created in high-energy heavy-ion collisions.

Selected Publications

Determining Fundamental Properties of Matter Created in Ultrarelativistic Heavy-Ion Collision, J. Novak, K. Novak, S. Pratt, C. Coleman-Smith, R. Wolpert, arXiv:1303.5769 (2013)

Identifying the Charge Carriers of the Quark-Gluon Plasma, S. Pratt, Physical Review Letters, 108, 212301 (2012)

Resolving the HBT Puzzle in Relativistic Heavy-Ion Collisions, S. Pratt, Physical Review Letters 102, 232301 (2009)

Sonic booms at 1012 Kelvin, S. Pratt, Viewpoint, Physics 1, 29 (2008)

Canonical and Microcanonical Calculations for Fermi Systems, S. Pratt, Phys. Rev. Lett. 84, 4255 (2000)

Ph.D., Theoretical Nuclear Physics, University of Minnesota, 1985

Joined NSCL in October 1992

pratt@nscl.msu.edu

Scott PrattProfessor of Physics

Theoretical Nuclear Physics

My research centers on the theoretical description and interpretation of relativistic heavy ion collisions. In these experiments, heavy nuclei such as gold or lead, are collided head on at ultrarelativistic energies at RHIC, located at Brookhaven, or at the LHC at CERN. The resulting collisions can create mesoscopic regions where temperatures exceed 1012 Kelvin. At these temperatures, densities become so high that hadrons overlap, which makes it impossible to identify individual hadrons. Thus, one attains a new state of matter, the strongly interacting quark gluon plasma. The QCD structure of the vacuum, which through its coupling to neutrons and protons is responsible for much of the mass of the universe, also melts at these temperatures. Unfortunately, the collision volumes are so small (sizes of a few time 10-15 m) and the expansions are so rapid (expands and disassembles in less that 10-21 s) that direct observation of the novel state of matter is impossible. Instead, one must infer all properties of the matter from the measured momenta of the outgoing particles. Thus, progress is predicated on careful and detailed modeling of the entire collision.

Modeling heavy ion collisions invokes tools and methods from numerous disciplines: quantum transport theory, relativisitic hydrodynamics, non-perturbative statistical mechanics, and traditional nuclear physics -- to name a few. I have been particularly involved in the development of femtoscopic techniques built on the phenomenology of two-particle correlations. After their last randomizing collision, a pair of particles will interact according to the well-understood quantum two-body interaction. This results in a measurable correlation which can be extracted as a function of the pair’s center of mass momentum and relative momentum. Since the correlation is sensitive to how far apart the particles are emitted in time and space, it can be used to quantitatively infer crucial properties of the space-time nature of the collision. These techniques have developed into a field of their own, and have proved invaluable for determining the space-time evolution of the system from experiment. I have also developed phenomenological tools for determining the

Femtoscopic source radii (in femtometers) characterize the size of the outgoing phase space cloud for particles of given momentum, kt. Experimentally determined sizes from two-particle correlations taken by the STAR collaboration (stars) are compared to model predictions (circles).

Selected Publications

L. F. Roberts, et al., General Relativistic Three-Dimensional Multi-Group Neutrino Radiation-Hydrodynamics Simulations of Core-Collapse Supernovae, submitted to ApJ, [arXiv:1604.07848] (2016).

J. Lippuner & L. F. Roberts, r-process Lanthanide Production and Heating Rates in Kilonovae, ApJ 815, 82 (2015).

L. F. Roberts, S. Reddy, and G. Shen, Medium Modification of the Charged Current Neutrino Opacity and Its Implications, Phys. Rev. C 86, 6 (2012).

L. F. Roberts, G. Shen, V. Cirigliano, J. A. Pons, S. Reddy, and S. E. Woosley, Proto-Neutron Star Cooling with Convection: The Effect of the Symmetry Energy, Phys. Rev. Lett. 108, 061103 (2012).

L. F. Roberts, S. E. Woosley, and R. D. Hoffman, Integrated Nucleosynthesis in Neutrino-driven Winds, ApJ 722, 1 (2010).

B.A. Physics The Colorado College,

Colorado Springs, CO 2006

Ph. D Astronomy & Astrophysics The University of California,

Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, CA 2012

Joined NSCL in September 2015

roberts@nscl.msu.edu

Luke RobertsAssistant Professor of Physics

Theoretical Nuclear Astrophysics

My research focuses on the intersection of astrophysics and nuclear physics, specifically in core-collapse supernovae and compact object mergers. When a massive star runs out of nuclear fuel to burn in its core, its inner most regions can rapidly collapse and form a hot, dense neutron star that emits a prodigious number of neutrinos. These neutrinos deposit a fraction of there energy further out in the star and likely power a large fraction of the supernovae observed in nature. Additionally, the emitted neutrinos can have a significant impact on the nuclei that are produced during the supernova and the neutrinos from nearby supernovae can be directly detected. In compact object mergers, two neutron stars or a neutron star and a black hole in a binary system emit gravitational radiation and spiral in towards each other. When they merge, a hyper massive hot neutron star or a black hole is left behind along with an accretion disk and a significant amount of very neutron rich material is ejected. These events are a strong source of gravitational waves, they may power short gamma ray bursts, and they may be the source of the heavy r-process nuclei found in our galaxy.

Artists view of a neutron star that accretes matter from a companion.

Looking ahead, the physics of compact objects in dynamic scenarios will be an area of cutting edge research in astronomy and nuclear astrophysics. Modern experimental facilities, such as the FRIB, will provide significant constraints on the microscopic properties of these environments. A wealth of new information about these events will be available in a few years from next generation gravitational wave detectors like advanced LIGO and large scale optical transient surveys like LSST. It is also possible that the neutrino signal from a galactic supernova will be observed with modern neutrino detectors in the relatively near future, opening a direct window into the innermost regions of supernovae and the birth of neutron stars. Detailed understanding of what these multi-messenger observations are telling us requires precise modeling of both microphysical processes (i.e. the nuclear equation of state, neutrino opacities, and nuclear burning) and macrophysical processes (i.e. radiation hydrodynamics and general relativity) in exotic environments I approach these problems using both theory and computation. Recently, I have worked on characterizing the composition of the material ejected during binary neutron star mergers, on how strong interactions in dense matter affect neutrino opacities and thereby the properties of neutrinos emitted in supernovae, methods for radiation transport in supernovae, and models of the core collapse supernova explosion mechanism. I am still actively working on projects in all of these areas.

⌅ [TODO: short title] 5

50 100 150 200 250Mass Number

107

106

105

104

103

Abu

ndan

ce

Le,53 = 0Le,53 = 1Le,53 = 3

Le,53 = 5

Solar

Figure 2. Comparison of the integrated nuclear abundances inmodel M12-7-9 assuming di↵erent neutrinos luminosities from thenascent disk.

Figure 3. The integrated nuclear abundances of the dynamicalejecta in the models M12-7-9 and M14-7-8. The low electron frac-tion of all the entire ejecta results in production of a robust r-process.

sis in the ejecta are run. In figure 3, the integrated abun-dances as a function of atomic mass number are shown.As is expected given the low Ye of the ejecta, a strongr-process is produced with material reaching up past thesecond peak. The first r-process peak is not produced,in contrast to what happens in NSNS merger dynamicalejecta where weak reprocessing pushes some material tohigh enough Ye that charged particle and neutron cap-ture ceases around nuclear mass A ⇠ 100. A scaled solarr-process abundance pattern is also shown.

4. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS

⌅ [TODO: acknowledgments]⌅ [TODO: remove dummy citation (to prevent BibTeX

from complaining if there are no other citations) Yates et al.(1954)]

REFERENCES

Yates, G. W., Hughes, R. S., & Sherdeman, T. 1954, Dummy!,color, Full Screen, Subtitled, NTSC,http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0047573

Predictions of the nuclei synthesized in the material ejected when a neutron star merges with a black hole. Neutrinos are produced during these events, but the total energy emitted in neutrinos is uncertain. Here, we have varied the neutrino flux to investigate how it might affect the composition of the outflow.

Selected Publications

State-of-the-Art and Future Prospects in RF Superconductivity, K. Saito, 2012 International Particle Accelerator Conference (2012).

Multi-wire Slicing of Large Grain Ingot Material, K. Saito et al., the 14th Workshop on RF Superconductivity 2009 (SRF2009).

Gradient Yield Improvement Efforts for Single and Multi-Cells and Progress for Very High Gradient Cavities, K. Saito, the 13rd Workshop on RF Superconductivity 2007 (SRF2007).

Theological Critical Field in RF Application, K. Saito, the 11th Workshop on RF Superconductivity SRF2003 (2003).

Superiority of Electropolishing over Chemical Polishing on High Gradients, K. Saito et al., The 8th Workshop on RF Superconductivity (1997).

B.S. Mathematics and Physics, Ritsumeikan University, 1977

Ph. D Nuclear Physics, Tohoku University, Japan, 1983

Joined NSCL in April 2012

Saito@frib.msu.edu

Kenji SaitoProfessor of PhysicsAccelerator Physics

Accelerator is the base tool for nuclear physics, high energy physics, light sources, medical applications, and so on. Superconducting Radio Frequency (SRF) Systems are an application of microwave acceleration for ion beams. The principle is the same as normal conducting RF system, but SRF systems use superconducting technology, which allows high quality beam acceleration with very high efficiency. It is a key technology for current world-wide accelerator projects for nuclear science and high energy physics. SRF systems are a state-of-the art technology to open new areas of particle physics. The FRIB project at MSU utilizes this system for a major part of the accelerator. I joined the NSCL graduate school education program servicing the FRIB SRF development manager since 2012. My photo shows a quarter wave resonator (80.5MHz) and have wave resonator (322MHz) for FRIB.

The main part of a SRF system is the so-called cryomodule and RF system. Figure 1 illustrates the FRIB beta=0.53 half wave resonator cryomodule. Cryomodule consists of a cryostat and SRF cavities included therein. Ionized beam is accelerated by SRF cavities, which is made of superconducting material and cooled by liquid helium at below 4.2K. Cryostat is a kind of Thermos bottle to keep SRF cavities at such a low temperature. Niobium material has been utilized for SR cavities, which has high quality superconducting features: higher superconducting transition temperature Tc=9.25K and

Artists view of a neutron star that accretes matter from a companion.

higher thermodynamic critical field Hc = 200mT. Niobium has a good forming performance to fabricate cavities. Development of high quality niobium is always a concerned and I have been working on high purity niobium material. My latest concern is single crystalline niobium ingot or other new materials. In RF cavity design it is very important to have an excellent SC cavity performance, which has to be simulated intensively by specific computing cords. I have developed a high gradient SRF cavity shape with an acceleration gradient > 50MV/m and demonstrated the high performance, which is world recorded so far. This activity will applied other new SRF systems.

SR cavity performance subjects to very shallow surface characteristics where RF surface current flows. Particle/defect free clean surface is especially crucial. Chemical clean surface preparation and clean assembly technology are key technologies. I have developed electropolishing method for elliptical shaped SRF cavity and confirmed it is the best process for high gradient cavities. This technology will be applied to low beta cavities and push the gradient in order to make SRF system more compact.

Cryostat design includes lots of engineering and material issues. We are investing a lot on this subject in ongoing FRIB cryomodule. The RF system is another exciting place to study. Concerning SRF, high power coupler is an important issue to develop. The design of multipacting free high power coupler structure and cleaning technology, TiN coating technologies, would make for a great theme for a thesis. Thus SRF systems cover various sciences and super-technologies: electromagnetic dynamics, superconducting material science, plastic forming technology, ultra-clean technology, ultra-high vacuum, cryogenics, RF technology, mechanical/electric engineer. SR system is an exciting place to study. Any students from Physics, Chemistry, Materials, and Mechanical/Electric Engineer are acceptable for this subject.

An example of the SRF systems, FRIB 0.53 half wave resonator cryomodule.

Selected Publications

Beta-delayed proton emission in the 100Sn region, G. Lorusso, et. al. Phys. Rev. C, 86, 014313 (2012).

Time-of-Flight Mass Measurements for Nuclear Processes in Neutron Star Crusts, Estrade, A. et al. Phys. Rev. Lett. 107 (2011) 172503 (arXiv:1109.5200)

Half-lives and branchings for β-delayed neutron emission for neutron-rich Co-Cu isotopes in the r-process, Hosmer, P. et al. Phys. Rev. C 82 (2010) 025806

Heating in the Accreted Neutron Star Ocean: Implications for Superburst Ignition, S. Gupta, E.F. Brown, H. Schatz, P. Moeller, and K. L. Kratz, Astrophys. J. 662, 1188 (2007)

X-ray Binaries, H. Schatz and K.E. Rehm, Nucl. Phys. A 777, 601 (2006)

M.S., Physics,University of Karlsruhe,1993

Ph.D., Physics, University of Heidelberg, 1997

Joined NSCL in December 1999

schatz@nscl.msu.edu

Hendrik SchatzUniversity Distinguished Professor of PhysicsJINA-CEE Department Head Experimental Nuclear Astrophysics

The goal of our experimental and theoretical research program is to understand the nuclear processes that shape the cosmos. To that end, we take advantage of the capabilities of NSCL and other laboratories to produce the same exotic isotopes that are created in extreme astrophysical environments such as supernovae, hydrogen explosions on neutron stars and white dwarfs, or the crusts of neutron stars. By measuring the properties of these very short lived isotopes we can address questions such as: What is the origin of the heavy elements in nature made in the rapid neutron capture process (r-process)? Why do current models for this process not work? What powers the frequently observed x-ray bursts and what do observations tell us about the astrophysical site? What are the processes in the crusts of neutron stars that convert ordinary nuclei into exotic isotopes beyond the limits of neutron stability? Why do these processes generate not enough heat to explain observations?

These questions are addressed by carrying out different types of experiments. These include measurements with the new generation gamma ray detector array GRETINA to probe excited states of exotic nuclei that can be used to calculate reactions rates for X-ray bursts, and measuring the masses of very neutron rich nuclei needed in neutron star crust models using the S800 spectrometer and a set of specially developed micro channel plate and fast plastic detectors. A new direction are experiments using the unique low energy beams provided by the new ReA3 facility to address questions in nuclear astrophysics. Our group is involved in developing a high density gas jet target and a recoil separator system, and we use the new neutron detector HABANERO to measure reactions that create elements in supernova explosions. A focus area for the coming years will be to use the world-unique beams provided by ReA3 for nuclear astrophysics research. Thesis projects are available in all these areas.

Our experiments are not performed in isolation but are embedded into a network of astrophysical model calculations and astronomical observations supported by the Joint Institute for Nuclear Astrophysics (JINA-CEE) a multi institutional NSF Physics Frontiers Center. Graduate students in our group become part of JINA-CEE and participate in all stages of this process. The goal of JINA-CEE is to provide a fully interdisciplinary education that is a pre-requisite for a successful career in this field.

While students go through the complete nuclear physics graduate course sequence, their education is complemented by participation in JINA-CEE schools (often held internationally), through research stays at JINA-CEE collaborating institutions in the US and abroad, and by carrying out astrophysical model calculations as part of their research, for example, to motivate their experiments, or to interpret their experimental results. Our group has a suite of astrophysical models that are available for use and further development at MSU. Alternatively collaborations with JINA-CEE partners in theoretical astrophysics can be used to carry out more sophisticated model calculations, such as multi-zone X-ray burst or multi-dimensional supernova simulations. In addition, students will develop collaborative connections with other JINA-CEE graduate students and postdocs at other institutions, as well with established researchers in nuclear physics, astrophysics, and astronomy.

Artists view of a neutron star that accretes matter from a companion.

Selected Publications

ImmunoPET/MR imaging enables specific detection in vivo of Aspergillus fumigatus infection, Rolle, A-M, et al, Proc Natl Acad Sci 2016 vol. 113 no. 8, E1026–E1033

Measurement of the branching ratio for the beta decay of 14O, Voytas PA, et al, Phys Rev C 2015 vol. 92, 065502.

Novel Preparation Methods of 52Mn for ImmunoPET Imaging, Graves, SA et al, Bioconjug Chem, 2015 vol 26, no. 10, pp. 2118-2124.

Bringing radiotracing to titanium-based antineoplastics: solid phase radiosynthesis, PET and ex-vivo evaluation of antitumor agent [45Ti](salan)Ti(dipic) Severin GW et al, J Med Chem, 2015 vol. 58 no. 18, pp. 7591-7595.

PhD 2010, Nuclear Physics, University of Wisconsin-Madison

MS 2006, Chemistry, University of Wisconsin-Madison

Joined NSCL in August 2016

gwseverin@chemistry.msu.edu

Gregory Severin Assistant Professor of Chemistry

Radiochemistry

Beam interactions at NSCL produce a wide variety of radionuclides. Careful tuning through the fragment separator selects one of these exotic products for on-line experiments, while the remainders are captured in beam stops and target-system components. By implementing chemical post-processing of the collection-sites we will be able access the unused radionuclides for off-line experiments. The purpose of my research is to develop the chemical procedures to harvest and purify the off-line radionuclides in order to expand the palette of research-ready isotopes at NSCL, and eventually at FRIB.

One of the most important applications of novel and unconventional radionuclides is in medicine. Positron Emission Tomography (PET), Single Photon Emission Computed Tomography (SPECT), RadioImmunoTherapy (RIT), and Peptide Receptor RadioTherapy (PRRT) rely upon a broad selection of nuclear and chemical properties for optimizing clinical effectiveness. In addition, preclinical radiotracing, a critical screening tool for drug development, requires radionuclides that are chemically and physically matched to specific pharmacokinetic processes. Therefore, it is important for medicinal radiochemists to have access to a large selection of high purity and high specific activity radionuclides. NSCL and FRIB will constantly accumulate a unique inventory of medically relevant radionuclides that will be extremely valuable once isolated and purified.

The first goals of the radiochemistry program at NSCL and FRIB will be to isolate 47Ca and 76Kr as generator parents for 47Sc and 76Br respectively (figure, below). 47Sc is an important radionuclide for RIT, and 76Br is to be used for PET research. By setting up an ion exchange collection system for 47Ca, and a noble gas purification routine for trapping 76Kr, we will have the necessary infrastructure to begin harvesting other important gaseous or ionic radionuclides. Ideally, this will provide pure radionuclides for research projects in medicine, chemistry, botany, nuclear physics and other diverse fields and applications.

Figure: Simplified decay schemes for 76Kr/76Br (left), and 47Ca/47Sc (right) generators.

Selected Publications

NSCL and FRIB at Michigan State University: Nuclear science at the limits of stability; A. Gade and B.M. Sherrill, Physica Scripta Volume: 91 (2016) 053003

Design of the Advanced Rare Isotope Separator ARIS at FRIB; M. Hausmann, et. al., Nucl. Instruments and Methods B, on-line (2013)

Production cross sections from 82SE fragmentation as indications of shell effects in neutron-rich isotopes close to the drip-line; O.B. Tarasov, et. al., Phys. Rev. C 87, 054612 (2013)

From isotopes to the stars, M. Thoennessen, B.M. Sherrill, Nature 473 (2011) 25.

B.A., Physics,Coe College,

1980

M.S., Physics,Michigan State University,

1982

Ph.D., Physics, Michigan State University,

1985

Joined NSCL in January 1985

sherrill@nscl.msu.edu

Bradley SherrillUniversity Distinguished Professor of Physics

NSCL Laboratory Director

Experimental Nuclear Physics

Approximately 270 isotopes are found naturally. However, many more isotopes, nearly 7,000 in total, can be produced by particle accelerators or in nuclear reactors. These isotopes are radioactive and spontaneously decay to more stable forms, and I work to produce and separate new and interesting ones.

There are several reasons why a latent demand exists within the scientific community for new, rare isotopes. One is that the properties of particular isotopes often hold the key to understanding some aspect of nuclear science. Another is that the rate of certain nuclear reactions involving rare isotopes can be important for modeling astronomical objects, such as supernovae. Yet another is that the properties of atomic nuclei can be used to test nature’s fundamental symmetries by searches for deviations from known symmetry laws. Finally, the production of isotopes benefits many branches of science and medicine as th isotopes can be used as sensitive probes of biological or physical processes.

The tools for production and separation of rare isotopes gives scientists access to designer nuclei with characteristics that can be adjusted to the research need. For example, super-heavy isotopes of light elements, such as lithium, have a size nearly five times the size of a normal lithium nucleus. The existence of such nuclei allows researchers to study the interaction of neutrons in nearly pure neutron matter, similar to what exists in neutron stars.

For production of new isotopes, the approach that I have helped develop is called in-flight separation; where a heavy ion, such as a uranium nucleus, is broken up at high energy. This produces a cocktail beam of fragments that are filtered by a downstream system of magnets called a fragment

The rich variety of nuclei is indicated by the depiction of three isotopes 4He, 11Li, and 220Ra overlaid on the chart of nuclides where black squares indicate the combination of neutrons and protons that result in stable isotopes, yellow those produced so far, and green those that might exist. Nuclei like 11Li have very different characteristics, such as a diffuse surface of neutron matter, than do normal nuclei.

separator. The efficiency of this technique can be nearly 100% and we are able to identify a single ion out of 1018 other particles. My group develops new techniques for fragment separation, and studies the nuclear reaction mechanisms that are used to product new isotopes. In the process we search for the most exotic isotopes possible in nature.

Research in this area includes study and design of magnetic ion optical devices. learning the various nuclear production mechanisms and improving models to describe them. This background allows one to contribute to science by making new isotopes, but also prepares one for a broad range of careers in academia, government (e.g. national security), and industry.

Selected Publications

Nucleon electric dipole moment with the gradient flow: the θ-term contribution, A. Shindler, T. Luu, J. de Vries, Phys. Rev. D92 (2015) 9, 094518

B-physics from Nf = 2 tmQCD: the Standard Model and beyond, N. Carrasco et al., JHEP 1403 (2014) 016

Pseudoscalar decay constants of kaon and D-mesons from Nf=2 twisted mass lattice QCD, B. Blossier et al., JHEP 0907 (2009) 043

Twisted mass lattice QCD, A. Shindler, Phys Rept. 461 (2008) 37-110

Light baryon masses with dynamical twisted mass fermions, C. Alexandrou et al., Phys. Rev. D78 (2008) 014509

M.S. Physics University of Rome “Tor Vergata” Italy, 1998

Ph.D. Physics University of Rome “Tor Vergata” Italy, 2002

Italian Professor Habilitation 2014

Joined NSCL in 2016

shindler@frib.msu.edu

Andrea ShindlerAssociate Professor of Physics

Theoretical Nuclear Physics

The strong interactions between protons and neutrons are described by a gauge theory, the so called Quantum Chromodynamics (QCD). While apparently simple, QCD is highly non-linear in the fundamental degrees of freedom, quarks and gluons, and in order to be used without relying on uncontrolled approximations we define it on a space-time grid.

The corresponding theory is called lattice QCD and it is the only known way to describe from first principles the non-perturbative dynamics of quarks and gluons. With the advent of fast supercomputers and algorithmic improvements the theoretical understanding of nuclear properties based on lattice QCD is a growing computational challenge and there is a huge effort in Nuclear Physics to understand how several nuclear phenomena emerge from QCD. In our group we combine theoretical and computational work to address a wide range of research topics that include fundamental symmetries and beyond the standard model physics, physics of nuclei and their impact to compact astrophysical environments, dark matter.

Fundamental symmetries and beyond the standard model physicsThe Standard Model of Particle Physics (SM) has been widely successful in describing the measured particle spectrum and composition of matter ranging from quarks and gluons to multi-hadron systems. The SM does not provide though the requisite amount of CP violation to account for the observed matter/anti-matter asymmetry. Therefore any physical description of such phenomena requires a theory that goes beyond the Standard Model (BSM), while at the same time encompassing the SM and its predictions related to ordinary matter. The observed asymmetry between matter and antimatter in the universe can be studied by searching for a permanent electric dipole moment (EDM) in nucleons, in paramagnetic and diamagnetic atoms.

Atomic EDMs are particularly interesting because specific heavy rare isotopes produced at FRIB, have larger EDMs. Therefore an ab-initio determination of the EDMs of nucleons combined with the experimental effort at FRIB, provides the unique possibility to look for fingerprints of different sources of CP-violations and thus isolate candidates for physics BSM. Together with my collaborators we have proposed a new method to compute nucleon and light nuclei EDMs based on lattice QCD and a new tool, the so called

Gradient Flow. We are currently extending this method to all CP-violating contributions to the EDM. The final goal is to have a complete calculation of all the CP-violating contributions to the EDMs of nucleons and light nuclei. This, combined with nuclear and atomic calculations, provides the necessary inputs to the experimental effort at FRIB for the fundamental symmetries studies.

Physics of nuclei and their impact to compact astrophysical environments Other research topics we investigate in our group using lattice QCD include the two- and three-body nucleons and hyperons interactions. These are fundamental inputs of neutron star physics, especially after the recent experimental observation of two solar masses neutron stars. Essential to perform such calculations is the need to address the poor signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) behavior in baryonic systems. In our research program addressing the SNR problem plays a central role.

Dark matter and strange content of nucleonsA very popular example of dark matter (DM) candidate is a weakly interacting massive particle (WIMP) like the ones that are predicted in a large class of models. Definite evidences for a direct detection of WIMPs have only been recently suggested, with various ongoing experiments providing rather severe constraints for the parameters of many DM models. A possible scenario for the detection of a WIMP type of DM particles relies on the idea that the WIMP, due to its assumed large mass, produces a Higgs boson that couples to the various quark flavor scalar density operators taken between nucleon states. In particular the production cross section depends quadratically, and therefore very sensitive, on the size of the of the scalar content contributions of different flavors in a nucleon.

With my collaborators we have proposed a new method, based on the Gradient Flow for fermions, that will reduce many of the systematic uncertainties of previous calculations. The understanding and precise determination of the quark scalar content of the nucleon has profound impact not only in DM searches but also on the physics of neutron stars. This is a synergistic activity for FRIB especially in view of the future collaboration with the future astronomy missions Joint Dark Energy Mission and the Advanced Compton Telescope.

Selected Publications

Development of high-performance alkali-hybrid polarized He3 targets for electron scattering, Jaideep T. Singh, et al. Phys. Rev. C 91, 055205 (2015)

A large-scale magnetic shield with 106 damping at millihertz frequencies, I. Altarev et al., J. Appl. Phys. 117, 183903 (2015)

First Measurement of the Atomic Electric Dipole Moment of Ra225, R. H. Parker, et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 114, 233002 (2015)

Measurement of the Hyperfine Quenching Rate of the Clock Transition in 171Yb, C.-Y. Xu, J. Singh et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 113 033003 (2014)

B.S. PhysicsCalifornia Institute of

Technology2000

Ph.D. PhysicsUniversity of Virginia

2010

Joined NSCL in August 2014

singhj@nscl.msu.edu

Jaideep Taggart SinghAssistant Professor of Physics

Experimental Atomic & Nuclear Physics

We are a new group that will applies techniques borrowed from atomic, molecular, & optical physics to problems in nuclear physics. Our research interests include tests of fundamental symmetries, low energy searches of physics beyond the Standard Model, and studies of rare nuclear reactions. A particular emphasis of our group is creating, manipulating, and detecting spin-polarized nuclei.

Why is there something rather than nothing in the Universe? The answer to this question is thought to be closely linked to fundamental interactions between subatomic particles that violate time reversal symmetry. Although it has been known since the late 1960’s that the Weak nuclear force slightly violates time reversal, its strength is far too feeble to explain the present day abundance of matter (as opposed to antimatter) in the Universe. The presence of a permanent electric dipole moment (EDM) of a particle is an unambiguous signature of an underlying time reversal symmetry violating interaction. A very sensitive technique to search for an EDM is a clock comparison experiment. In such an experiment, a clock is formed by placing a spin-polarized particle, such as a nucleus, in a very stable and very uniform magnetic field. The clock or spin precession frequency is then observed while an electric field is applied to the particle. An EDM would couple to this electric field causing a very small shift in the observed clock frequency. Over the last sixty years, all searches for an EDM based on this and similar techniques have yielded a null result. Because the observation of a nonzero EDM would have far reaching consequences, there is a world-wide effort by many groups to search for an EDM in several different systems.

At the moment, our group is heavily involved in two on-going EDM searches in nuclei. The first involves the rare isotope Radium-225 which, because of its unusual pear-shaped nucleus, is expected to have an enhanced sensitivity to new physics which violates time reversal symmetry. Because radium has a very low vapor pressure, this experiment involves laser cooling and trapping techniques to make efficient use of the small number (thousands) of atoms available. The Facility for Rare Isotope Beams is expected to

provide, among other things, a steady and intense source of Ra-225. This would allow for detailed studies of systematic effects that limit the sensitivity of the Ra-225 EDM search currently underway. Our first proof-of-principle result was just recently published and several upgrades are being designed and implemented now. This work is a collaboration with Argonne National Lab, the University of Kentucky, and Michigan State University.

The second EDM search involves the stable and abundant isotope Xenon-129, which is a naturally occurring component of air. This experiment involves the production of large Xe magnetizations using a technique called spin exchange optical pumping (SEOP) and very low noise magnetic flux detection using SQUIDs. A key component of this experiment is a state of the art 2.5 m by 2.5 m by 2.5 m magnetically shielded room located in Munich, Germany. Our group will contribute to all aspects of these precision measurements providing expertise in ultra-low field NMR, optical pumping, electric field generation & characterization, ultra-high vacuum systems, cryogenic systems, laser manipulation of atoms, and ultra-low noise precision magnetometry. This work is a collaboration with the Technical University of Munich, the University of Michigan, PTB, and the Julich Center for Neutron Science.

Our group will also pioneer brand new techniques to capture, detect, and manipulate nuclei embedded in noble gas solids (NGS). NGS provide stable and chemically inert confinement for a wide variety of guest species. Confinement times and atom numbers in NGS exceed those of conventional laser traps by orders of magnitude. Because NGS are transparent at optical wavelengths, the guest atoms can be probed using lasers. Our group aims to demonstrate optical single atom detection in NGS which would provide a new tool for studying rare nuclear reactions which are important for nuclear astrophysics. Optical manipulation of nuclear spins in solids would have applications in tests of fundamental symmetries and quantum memories for quantum information processing.

Selected PublicationsStrong Neutron-γ Competition above the Neutron Threshold in the Decay of 70Co, A. Spyrou, S. N. Liddick, et al. Physical Review Letters 117 (2016) 142701

Novel technique for constraining r-process (n,γ) reaction rates. A. Spyrou, S.N. Liddick et. al., Physical Review Letters 113 (2014) 232502

Experimental Neutron Capture Rate Constraint far from stability. S.N. Liddick, A. Spyrou, et al, Physical Review Letters 116 (2016) 242502

Total Absorption Spectroscopy of the β decay of 76Ga. A. C. Dombos, D.-L. Fang, A. Spyrou, et al. Physical Review C 93 (2016) 064317

Proton capture cross section of 72Ge and astrophysical implications, F. Naqvi, S. J. Quinn, A. Spyrou, et al., Physical Review C (2015) 025804

M.S. , Physics, National Technical University of Athens, 2003

Ph.D. Physics, National Technical University of Athens, 2007

Joined NSCL in May 2007

spyrou@nscl.msu.edu

Artemis SpyrouAssociate Professor of Physics Associate Director for Education and OutreachExperimental Nuclear Astrophysics

My research focuses on the field of Experimental Nuclear Astrophysics. I study the structure of exotic nuclei that participate in different astrophysical processes in an attempt to better understand the synthesis of the elements we see around us. In addition, I study nuclear reactions that take place in stellar environments, either by measuring the reaction of interest directly, or indirectly by studying important nuclear properties.

The elements that we observe today on earth were all created inside stars through different types of nuclear reactions. Starting with hydrogen and helium, the light elements are produced by reaction cycles that burn the existing fuel and slowly build the heavier nuclei up to the region of iron. Above iron, most elements are created through two processes (s- and r-process), which involve neutron-induced reactions together with β-decays. There is also a small group of proton-rich nuclei, called “p-nuclei”, which cannot be created by these neutron-processes but rather by a different process called “p process”. There are several open questions governing the synthesis of the heavy elements. My work as an experimentalist is to study the nuclear reactions involved in these astrophysical processes and also the structure of the participating nuclei. For this purpose, my group developed the SuN detector - a total absorption gamma-ray spectrometer that is used for very efficiently detecting the gamma rays emitted from nuclear reactions or from beta-decay processes.

My group performs experiments in all three of the experimental areas of the Laboratory: 1) We measure beta decays with fast beams, where the beam is implanted in a detector at the center of SuN. 2) For nuclei with longer half-lives we can study beta-decays in the “stopped” beam area, where we use a tape transport system for removing any radioactive decay products. 3) We use reaccelerated rare isotope beams from the ReA3 facility to measure nuclear reactions at energies that correspond to the temperature of the astrophysical environment.

The SuN detector is shown next to an artist’s rendition of astronomical events.

Selected PublicationsDegradation of single crystal diamond detectors in swift heavy ion beams, A. Bhattacharya et al., Diamond and Related Materials 70, 124 (2016

Evidence for a Change in the Nuclear Mass Surface with the Discovery of the Most Neutron-Rich Nuclei with 17 ≤ Z ≤ 25, O. B. Tarasov et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 102, 142501 (2009)

First observation of two-proton radioactivity in 48Ni, M. Pomorski et al., Phys. Rev. C 83, 061303 (2011).

Discovery of 40Mg and 42Al suggests neutron drip-line slant towards heavier isotopes, T. Baumann et al., Nature 449, 1022 (2007)

First observation of 60Ge and 64Se, A. Stolz et al., Phys. Lett. B 627, 32 (2005)

M.S., Physics,Technological

University of Munich1995

Ph.D., Physics, Technological

University of Munich, 2001

Joined NSCL in June 2001

stolz@nscl.msu.edu

Andreas StolzAssociate Professor (NSCL)

Operations Department HeadExperimental Nuclear Physics

My primary research interest is centered on the production of rare isotope beams with fragment separators and the study of the structure of nuclei at the limits of existence. At NSCL, rare isotope beams are produced by projectile fragmentation. The coupled cyclotrons accelerate stable ions to a velocity up to half the speed of light. The fast ions then impinge on a production target where they break up into fragments of different mass and charges. Most of the fragments are unstable and many of them have an unusual ratio of protons and neutrons. To study their properties, the fragments of interest need to be separated from all other produced particles. The A1900 fragment separator at NSCL filters rare isotopes by their magnetic properties and their energy loss in thin metal foils. Detector systems installed in the path of the beam allow the unambiguous identification of every single isotope transmitted through the device. The large acceptance of the separator together with intense primary beams from the cyclotrons allow access to the most exotic nuclei that exist, some of which were observed for the first time at NSCL. The investigation of the limits of nuclear stability provides a key benchmark for nuclear models and is fundamental to the understanding of the nuclear forces and structure.

Another research area is the development of particle detectors made from diamond produced by chemical vapor. Radioactive beam facilities of the newest generation can produce rare isotope beams with very high intensities. The special properties of diamond allow the development of radiation-hard timing and tracking detectors that can be used at incident particle rates up to 108 particles per second. Detectors based on poly-crystalline diamond were built and tested at NSCL and excellent timing properties

were achieved. Those detectors have been successfully used as timing detectors in several NSCL experiments. First, detectors based on single-crystal diamond showed superior efficiency and energy resolution. Further development will continue with the investigation of properties of single-crystal diamond detectors and the production of position-sensitive detectors with larger active areas.

Particle identification plot showing the energy loss in a silicon detector as a function of time-of-flight through the A1900 fragment separator. The separator tune was optimized for 60Ge, a rare isotope observed for the first time at NSCL.

Selected Publications

Constraints on the Density Dependence of the Symmetry Energy, M.B. Tsang, Y. Zhang, P. Danielewicz, M. Famiano, Z. Li, W.G. Lynch, A.W. Steiner, Phys. Rev. Lett. 102, 122701 (2009)

Isospin Diffusion in Heavy Ion Reactions, M.B. Tsang et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 92, 062701 (2004).

Neutron-Proton Asymmetry Dependence of Spectroscopic Factors in Ar Isotopes, Jenny Lee, M.B. Tsang, et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 104, 112701 (2010)

Survey of Excited State Neutron Spectroscopic Factors for Z=8-28 Nuclei, M.B. Tsang, Jenny Lee, S.C. Su, J.. Dai, M. Hori, H. Liu, W.G. Lynch, S. Warren, Phys. Rev. Lett. 102, 062501 (2009)

Constraints on the symmetry energy and neutron skins from experiments and theory, M.B. Tsang et al., Phys. Rev. C 86, 015803 (2012)

B.S., Mathematics,California State College, 1973

M.S., Chemistry,University of Washington,1978

Ph.D., Chemistry, University of Washington, 1980

Joined NSCL in December 1980

tsang@nscl.msu.edu

Betty TsangProfessor (NSCL)Nuclear Chemistry

As an experimentalist, I study collisions of nuclei at energies at approximately half the speed of light. From the collisions of nuclei, we can create environments that resemble the first moments of the universe after the big bang. Properties of extra-terrestrial objects such as neutron stars can be obtained from studying collisions of a variety of nuclei with different compositions of protons and neutrons. One important research area of current interest is the density dependence of the symmetry energy, which governs the stability as well as other properties of neutron stars. Symmetry energy also determines the degree of stability in nuclei.

We have an active program to study the symmetry energy term in the nuclear equation of state. In a series of experiments at NSCL and in Catania, Italy, we measured the isotope yields from the collisions of different tin isotopes, 112Sn+112Sn (light tin systems), 124Sn+124Sn (heavy tin systems with more neutrons) as well as the crossed reactions of 124Sn+112Sn, and 112Sn+124Sn. We measure isospin diffusions, which is related to the symmetry energy as the degree of isospin transferred in violent encounters of the projectile and target depends on the symmetry energy potentials. In an experiment at MSU, we also measured the neutron to proton ratios that are directly related to the symmetry energy. In addition to experiments, we carry out Transport simulations of nuclear collisions at the super-computing center at Austin, Texas and MSU in our quest to understand the role of symmetry energy in nuclear collisions, nuclear structure and neutron stars.

Through measurements and comparisons to the transport model simulations, we are able to obtain a constraint on the density dependence of the symmetry energy below normal nuclear matter density (which is the density of the nucleus you encounter everyday, 0.26fm-3 or 2.04x1017 kg/m3) as shown in the blue shaded region in the figure. The curves are various theoretical predictions showing the large uncertainties in theory regarding the properties of symmetry energy.

To explore the density region above normal nuclear matter density - marked with question marks in the figure - experiments are planned at NSCL, as well as RIKEN, Japan. Currently, our group is building a Time Projection Chamber that will detect charged particles as well as pions when the TPC is placed inside a dipole magnet. When completed, the TPC will be installed in the SAMURAI magnet in RIKEN, Japan and will allow us to study the symmetry energy at twice of the nuclear matter density.

By studying particles emitted in nuclear collisions, we also gain knowledge about the structure of nuclei. Single nucleon transfer reactions, when either a proton or neutron is transferred from the projectile to the target or vice versa, have been used successfully in the study of nuclear structure. This type of reaction is especially useful in understanding the single particle states in a nucleus, such as 56Ni, which is a double magic nucleus but is unstable. 56NI is a nucleus of astrophysical interest as it is the end product in many astrophysical reactions. Accurate descriptions of single particle states are of fundamental importance to check the validity of the nuclear shell models that predict properties of exotic nuclei relevant in our understanding of nucleosynthesis of elements when the early universe was formed. Our group has an active experimental program in transfer reactions using a state of the art high resolution detector array (HiRA). Experiments are being planned for using radioactive beams at NSCL.

The curves are the density dependence of the symmetry energy calculated from various phenomenological nucleon interactions. There are large uncertainties below and above the saturation density, r0. The blue shaded region which excludes some of the theoretical calculations have been obtained mainly with NSCL experiments. The next challenge in the quest of understanding symmetry energy is the high density regions.

Selected Publications

FRIB accelerator status and challenges, J. Wei, et al, Proc. Linac Conference, Tel Aviv (2012), pp. 417

Synchrotrons and accumulators for high-intensity proton beams, J. Wei, Reviews of Modern Physics, 75, 1383 (2003)

The low-energy state of circulating stored ion beam: crystalline beams, J. Wei, X-P. Li, A. M. Sessler, Physical Review Letters, 73, 3089 (1994)

Necessary Conditions for Attaining a Crystalline Beam, J. Wei, H. Okamoto, A.M. Sessler, Physical Review Letters, 80, 2606 (1998)

Theorem on magnet fringe field, J. Wei, R. Talman, Particle Accelerators, 55, 339 (1996)

Low-loss design for the high-intensity accumulator ring of the Spallation Neutron Source, J. Wei, et al, Physical Review ST-Accel. Beams, Vol. 3, 080101 (2000)

B.S. Physics, Tsinghua University, China,

1983

Ph. D Physics, Stony Brook University,

1989

Joined NSCL in August 2010

wei@frib.msu.edu

Jie WeiProfessor of Physics

Accelerator Systems Division DirectorAccelerator Physics

The accelerators for the Facility of Rare Isotope Beams (FRIB) facility are among the most powerful and technically demanding hadron accelerators in the world. Intense beams of heavy ions up to uranium are produced and accelerated to 200 MeV/u and higher energy with beam powers up to 400 kW to produce rare isotopes. Scientific experiments can be performed with rare isotope beams at velocities similar to the driver linac beam, at near zero velocities after stopping in a gas cell, or at intermediate velocities through reacceleration. The design and development of the FRIB driver accelerator requires the most advanced knowledge in accelerator physics and engineering involving beam dynamics with electron-cyclotron-resonance (ECR) ion sources, radio-frequency quadrupole (RFQ) linac, superconducting RF linac; space charge and beam halo; charge stripping mechanisms based on solid film, liquid film, and gases; mechanisms of beam loss, collimation, and collection; mechanisms of vibration, microphonics, and compensation; and mechanisms of gas dissorption, electron cloud, and mitigations.

Accelerator engineering covers fields of superconducting material and technology; low-temperature cryogenics; permanent and electromagnetic magnets and power supplies; radio-frequency vacuum; beam diagnostics instrumentation and electronics; accelerator controls and machine protection; and beam collimation and shielding. Design, R&D, construction, commissioning, and upgrade of the FRIB accelerator complex involve fascinating and challenging works across multiple disciplines at Michigan State University and in collaboration with major accelerator institutes and laboratories in United States and throughout the world.

During the past 25 years, I have had the opportunity to work on several accelerator projects including the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider at Brookhaven National Laboratory, the U.S. part of the Large Hadron Collider at CERN, the Spallation Neutron Source at Oak Ridge National Laboratory in collaboration with Lawrence Berkeley, Los Alamos, Thomas Jefferson, Brookhaven, and Argonne National Laboratories, the China Spallation Neutron Source project, and the Compact Pulsed Hadron Source in China. My scientific research involves

accelerator physics of high-energy colliders and high-intensity proton accelerators; beam dynamics of non-adiabatic regime and transition crossing in high-intensity rings and proton drivers; magnetic fringe field and nonlinearity correction; electron cloud formation and mitigation in high-intensity rings; intra-beam scattering of heavy-ion beams in colliders; beam cooling and crystallization; development of spallation neutron sources; development of compact pulsed hadron sources; development of hadron therapy facilities; development of accelerator driven sub-critical reactor programs for thorium energy utilization and nuclear waste transmutation; and development of accelerators for rare isotope beams. The field of accelerator physics is uniquely rewarding in that ideas and dreams can be turned into reality through engineering projects, through which one experiences endless learning in physics, technology, teamwork and fostering friendships.

Presently, our team is responsible for the design, prototyping, construction, and commissioning of the driver accelerator complex of the FRIB Project and the commissioning of the ReA3 reaccelerator. Our division contains departments and groups of Accelerator Physics, Superconducting Radio-frequency, Cryogenics, Diagnostics, Controls, Magnet, Front End, Collimation and Beam Dumps, Vacuum and Alignment, ReA3, Mechanical Engineering, and Electrical Engineering. We collaborate closely with major DOE national laboratories in the United States and worldwide with accelerator institutes in Europe and Asia. We are looking forward to more students and young fellows joining us to start their scientific career in the field of accelerator physics and engineering, and joining us in the exciting works of turning FRIB accelerator design into reality.

By comparing gold-gold collisions with deuteron-gold and proton-proton collisions, RHIC experimenters were able to show that the quark-gluon liquid originates with the scattering of quark and gluons.

At the top RHIC energies, we observe a smooth transition from the quark gluon plasma to the hadrons observed in STAR. At the lowest RHIC energies, we expect a first order phase transition to occur when the quark gluon plasma hadronizes. The RHIC Beam Energy Scan is designed to provide incident energies at which the critical point may be observed. We are searching for this critical end point using correlation and fluctuation observables. Near the QCD critical point, fluctuations are expected to increase dramatically.

Selected Publications

Balance functions from Au+Au, d+Au, and p+p collisions at sqrt(sNN) = 200 GeV, STAR Collaboration, Phys. Rev. C 82, 024905 (2010).

K/π Fluctuations at Relativistic Energies, STAR Collaboration, Phys. Rev. Lett. 103, 092301 (2009)

Incident Energy Dependence of Correlations at Relativistic Energies, STAR Collaboration, Phys. Rev. C 72, 044902 (2005)

Fluctuations and Correlations in STAR, G.D. Westfall, J. Phys. G: Nucl. Part. Phys. 30, S1389 (2004)

Narrowing of the Balance Function with Centrality in Au+Au Collisions at = 130 GeV, STAR Collaboration, Phys. Rev. Lett. 90, 172301 (2003)

B.S., Physics,University of Texas,Arlington, 1972

Ph.D., Physics, University of Texas, Austin, 1975

Joined NSCL in September 1981

westfall@nscl.msu.edu

Gary WestfallUniversity Distinguished Professor of PhysicsExperimental Nuclear Physics

My research focuses on studying the quark-gluon liquid at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC) at Brookhaven National Laboratory using the STAR detector. At RHIC, we collide gold nuclei at center-of-mass energies of up to 200 GeV per nucleon pair. At this energy, the protons and neutrons in the incident nuclei are transformed into a hot, dense, and strongly interacting liquid of quarks and gluons. This quark-gluon liquid is a nearly perfect liquid, which has nearly zero viscosity as evidenced by the comparison of flow measurements to hydrodynamic calculations. The universe is thought to have existed in this form a few microseconds after the big bang.

The main detector of STAR is its time projection chamber (TPC). This TPC can produce a full three-dimensional picture of the collision of two ultrarelativistic nuclei. A collision of two gold nuclei is shown as measured in the STAR detector. Each line in the picture corresponds to a single particle leaving the collision. Several thousand tracks are observed in this one central collision. The color of the track represents the ionization density of the track. By correlating the curvature of the track and its ionization density, the particles that created the track can be identified.

The three cornerstones of the observation of the quark-gluon liquid at RHIC are thermalization, collective flow and jet suppression. The spectra of particles emitted in gold-gold collisions can be well described by a blast-wave model incorporating a kinetic temperature and an expansion velocity. The relative number of various types of particles can be well described by a thermal model using a chemical temperature and a chemical potential. Collective flow manifests itself in terms of azimuthal anisotropies. The original anisotropy in the overlap region of the two colliding nuclei is translated into momentum correlations in the final state. Central collisions of gold nuclei also show strong jet suppression.

A central collision of two gold nuclei at 130 GeV per nucleon pair as observed in the STAR detector at RHIC. The figure is drawn looking down the beam line of RHIC.

Selected Publications

β-delayed γ decay of 26P: Possible evidence of a proton halo, D. Perez-Loureiro, C. Wrede et al., Phys. Rev. C 93, 064320 (2016)

Isospin Mixing Reveals 30P(p, γ)31S Resonance Affecting Nova Nucleosynthesis, M. B. Bennett, C. Wrede, et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 116, 102502 (2016)

Observation of Doppler broadening in beta delayed proton-gamma decay, S. B. Schwartz, C. Wrede, et al., Phys. Rev. C 92, 031302(R) (2015)

Revalidation of the isobaric multiplet mass equation for the A=20 quintet, B. E. Glassman, D. Perez-Loureiro, C. Wrede et al., Phys. Rev. C, 92, 042501(R) (2015)

Discovery of 34g,mCl(p, γ)35Ar resonances activated at classical nova temperatures, C. Fry, C. Wrede, et al., Phys. Rev. C 91, 015803 (2015)

M.Sc., Physics,Simon Fraser University,

2003

M.S., M. Phil., PhysicsYale University

2006

Ph.D., Physics,Yale University,

2008

Joined NSCL in August 2011

wrede@nscl.msu.edu

Christopher WredeAssistant Professor of Physics

Experimental Nuclear Astrophysics

Atomic nuclei play an important role in the evolution of matter in our universe. For many problems in astrophysics, cosmology, and particle physics, the detailed properties of atomic nuclei provide essential inputs to the solutions.

Our group’s research focuses on studying nuclei experimentally to probe fundamental questions about our universe. For example, we measure nuclear reactions, decays, and masses in the laboratory to learn about the reactions that power exploding stars or affect their synthesis of chemical elements. Similar experiments can contribute to searches for physics beyond the standard model of particle physics. In some cases we can use these low energy nuclear physics techniques to directly measure the reactions that occur in stars or to directly search for new physics.

In the near future, our group’s program at NSCL will be focused on measuring the beta decays of proton-rich nuclides. With these experiments, we hope to constrain the nuclear structure details that are most influential on the explosive burning of hydrogen and helium on the surfaces of accreting compact stars such as white dwarfs and neutron stars. Additionally, these experiments can allow us to better constrain the effects of isospin-symmetry breaking in nuclei on tests of the unitarity of the Cabibbo-Kobayashi-Maskawa matrix, a cornerstone of the standard model.

Students in our group have opportunities to propose, prepare, execute, analyze, and interpret nuclear-physics experiments at NSCL, to publish the results in leading scientific journals, and to present the results at national and international conferences.

The SeGA array of germanium gamma-ray detectors arranged for a measurement of the beta delayed gamma decay of 26P in order to determine the amount of 26Al produced in classical nova explosions.

Selected PublicationsJ-PARC Status, Y. Yamazaki, Proc. 2009 Part. Accel. Conf., MO2BCI03 (2009).

A Three-Cavity System which Suppresses the Coupled-Bunch Instability Associated with the Accelerating Mode. Y. Yamazaki and T. Kageyama, Part. Accel. 44, 107 (1994).

New Field Stabilization Method of a Four-Vane Type RFQ. A. Ueno and Y. Yamazaki, Nucl. Instr. Meth. A300, 15 (1990).

Critical Test of Coupled-Bunch Instability Theory. H. Kobayakawa, et al., Jap. J. Appl. Phys. 25, 864 (1986).

Discrepancy between Theory and Experiment in Nuclear Polarization Corrections of Muonic 208Pb. Y. Yamazaki et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 42, 1470 (1979).

B. E., Applied Physics, University of Tokyo,1969

M. E., Applied Physics, University of Tokyo, 1971

Ph. D., Physics, University of Tokyo, 1974

Joined NSCL in November 2011

yamazaki@frib.msu.edu

Yoshishige YamazakiProfessor of PhysicsAccelerator Systems Division Deputy Director, Accelerator Physics

Particle accelerators, which were at first invented and developed mainly for studying atomic nuclei and fundamental particles, are nowadays applied to a wide variety of fields, including materials science, life science, cancer therapy, and so forth. Future possible applications may include the transmutation of nuclear waste, which arises from nuclear energy plants. In other words, the development of particle accelerator technology is required not only for studying fundamental particle physics and nuclear physics, but also for other sciences and industrial technology. In order to build a world-class particle accelerator, we have to make use of a wide variety of state-of-art technologies. Not only that, in many cases, we have to newly invent and develop some key components, which are themselves applied to other industrial use. In other words, not only accelerators themselves, but also technologies developed for accelerators contribute a lot to the progress in science and technology.

Here, the key word is “world-class”. The linear accelerator in the Facility for Rare Isotope Beams (FRIB) is truly a world-class accelerator. Many species of heavy ions up to uranium are accelerated to 400-MeV/nucleon, generating a beam power of 400 kW (the world-highest uranium beam power). With that amount of power, many rare isotopes will be discovered and studied, opening up a new era for nuclear physics, astrophysics and others.

For that purpose, superconducting cavities are entirely used to accelerate the beams from a very front end. The FRIB accelerator, thus innovative, presents many chances for new inventions and developments.

I developed, built and commissioned the RF cavity systems of KEK-PF (Photon Factory, world-highest power synchrotron radiation source, when built) and TRISTAN (world-highest energy electron/positron ring collider, when built) and the RF system of KEKB (B Factory, world-highest luminosity electron/positron ring collider). Before joining NSCL, I have been an accelerator team leader for J-PARC, which generates a world-highest pulse power of neutrons, muons, Kaons and neutrinos. I measured the threshold currents of the coupled-bunch instabilities for the first time and cured the instability for KEK-PF, developed the on-axis coupled accelerating structure for rings for TRISTAN, invented the ARES cavity, for KEKB, invented π-mode stabilizing loops for J-PARC RFQ, and developed the annular-ring coupled structure (ACS) for J-PARC linac. As can be seen from above, I have covered both the beam instability study and the RF technology.

The technology/engineering is nothing but applied science. In other words, deep understanding of physics is really necessary for accelerator physics. On the other hand, accelerator development is a good playground to enjoy physics. I would like to invite many graduate students

to enjoy physics by developing, building and commissioning the FRIB accelerator. Here are many chances of invention and innovation, and I can supervise you for those.

Annular-Ring Coupled Structure for 400 MeV upgrade of J-PARC linac developed together with Moscow Meson Factory (MMF), Institute for Nuclear Research (INR)

Selected PublicationsObservation of the Isovector Giant Monopole Resonance via the Si-28 (Be-10, B-10* [1.74 MeV]) Reaction at 100 AMeV – M. Scott et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 118, 172501 (2017).

The Sensitivity of Core-Collapse Supernovae to nuclear Electron Capture – C. Sullivan et al., The Astrophysical Journal, 816, 44 (2016).

The Sensitivity of Core-Collapse Supernovae to Nuclear Electron Capture, C. Sullivan, E. O’Connor, R.G.T. Zegers, T. Grubb, & Sam M. Austin, The Astrophysical Journal, 816, 44 (2015).

β+ Gamow-Teller Transition Strengths from 46Ti and Stellar Electron-Capture Rates. S. Noji et al. Phys. Rev. Lett. 112, 252501 (2014)

M.S., Technical Physics,State University of

Groningen,1995

Ph.D., Mathematics and Natural Sciences, State University of

Groningen, 1999

Joined NSCL in February 2003

zegers@nscl.msu.edu

Remco ZegersProfessor of Physics,

Associate Director for Experimental Research

Experimental Nuclear Physics

What makes a star explode and eject its material into space to create planets like earth? What is the mass of the neutrino? And what forces govern the properties of nuclei? These are some of the questions my research group is trying to address in a variety of experiments performed at the NSCL. Although these questions seem rather different in nature, elements of the underlying physics can be studied by using a particular class of nuclear reactions: charge-exchange reactions.

In charge-exchange reactions, a proton in a target nucleus is exchanged for a neutron in the projectile nucleus, or vice-versa, thereby transferring charge between the target and the projectile. Although such reactions are governed by the strong nuclear force, they are closely connected to electron-capture and beta-decay, which are transitions governed by the weak nuclear force. These weak interactions play an important role in the evolution of stars just before they become supernovae and in physics related to neutrinos, such as (neutrinoless) double-beta decay. Charge-exchange reactions are also very useful for probing specific properties of nuclei, especially those related to spin and isospin and are, therefore, used to improve and test our fundamental understanding of nuclear structure.

My group plays a leading role in performing charge-exchange experiments with unstable nuclei. Although such nuclei only exist for a short amount of time, they can play an important role in stellar environments where temperatures and densities are high. In addition, by performing charge-exchange experiments on unstable nuclei, one can probe properties of nuclei that are not (easily) accessible when studying stable nuclei.

Performing charge-exchange studies in which unstable nuclei are probed requires that experiments are performed in inverse kinematics. We have developed a low energy neutron detector array (LENDA) for performing (proton,

neutron) charge-exchange reactions in inverse kinematics. Some of our experiments, such as the ones using the (Lithium-7, Beryllium-7) and (Beryllium-10, Boron-10) probes, involve the detection of gamma-rays, either in the Segmented Germanium Array (SeGA) or the Gamma Ray Energy Tracking Array (GRETINA). Both types of experiments use the S800 magnetic spectrograph. Further technical developments will be an important component of future studies on charge-exchange reactions with unstable nuclei at NSCL, but also at the future Facility for Rare Isotope Beams (FRIB). In particular, I am heavily involved with the development of a new High Rigidity Spectrometer for FRIB.

For a variety of purposes, we also perform charge-exchange experiments on stable nuclei and use a reaction in which a hydrogen-3 particle (consisting of 2 neutrons and 1 proton) exchanges a neutron for a proton in a stable target nucleus, thus becoming a helium-3 particle (2 protons and 1 neutron). The hydrogen-3 particles are not stable and are produced as a secondary beam.

The Low-Energy Neutron Detector Array (LENDA) is used for (p,n) charge-exchange experiments in inverse kinematics. It has been upgraded to use a digital data acquisition system and is presently being upgraded to include more scintillator bars.

Selected Publications

Quantum chaos and thermalization in isolated systems of interacting particles.F. Borgonovi, F.M. Izrailev, L.F. Santos, and V.Zelevinsky. Physics Reports 626, 1 (2016)

Super-radiant dynamics, doorways, and resonances in nuclei and other open mesoscopic systems, N. Auerbach and V. Zelevinsky, Rep. Prog. Phys. 74, 106301 (2011)

Three-body forces and many-body dynamics. Phys. At. Nucl. 72, 1107 (2009)

Continuum Shell Model, A. Volya and V. Zelevinsky, Phys. Rev. C 74, 064314 (2006)

Nuclear structure, random interactions and mesoscopic physics, V. Zelevinsky and A. Volya, Phys. Rep. 391, 311 (2004)

The nuclear shell model as a testing ground for many-body quantum chaos, V. Zelevinsky, B.A. Brown, N. Frazier, and M. Horoi, Phys. Rep. 276, 85 (1996)

M.S., Physics,Moscow University, 1960

Ph.D., Physics,Budker Institute of Nuclear Physics Novosibirsk, 1964

Joined NSCL in August 1992

2-volume textbook “Quantum Physics” was published by “Wiley”in 2011.

zelevinsky@nscl.msu.edu

Vladimir ZelevinskyProfessor of PhysicsTheoretical Nuclear Physics

My current interest is concentrated on mesoscopic aspects of nuclear physics. The mesoscopic world is intermediate between elementary particles and macroscopic bodies. Mesoscopic systems consist of a relatively small number of particles which still show the noticeable properties of matter. On the other hand, such systems are small enough so that we can study, in theory and in experiments, individual quantum states. Nuclei provide one of the best examples of such arrangement and self-organization. Other mesoscopic systems are complex atoms, molecules (including biological ones), solid state nano-devices and future quantum computers. In all cases, we have certain symmetry, particles, their individual motion in a common field, their interactions, collective excitations (waves, vortices, rotation), coexistence of regularity, complexity and chaos, response to external forces and possible decay.

Loosely bound nuclei are of special interest just because of weak binding. In this situation quantum particles can live far away from the rest of the system in a classically forbidden region forming quantum skins, halos and clusters. Intrinsic structure of such a system is strongly coupled with continuum (or an environment in the context of condensed matter). It is a challenge to learn how one can describe in the same consistent framework intrinsic properties, resonant interaction with external fields and numerous nuclear reactions which give the only available tool to study such exotic systems. Our method of choice (collaboration with A. Volya) is the Continuum Shell Model that combines on equal footing structure and reactions. There are still many unsolved problems in this promising approach. Nuclear reactions have many common features with the signal transmission through a mesoscopic solid state device (quantum dot, quantum wire, quantum computer). Our experience in nuclear physics helps in understanding a more broad class of problems.

Another important theoretical topic is related to symmetries and phase transitions. We still do not have a reliable theory of nuclear shapes and their transformations along the nuclear chart or as a function of excitation energy. The problem is that in mesoscopic systems, frequently the shape is not sharply fixed as, for example, in perfect crystals. Many nuclei are soft and reveal large shape fluctuations. On the other hand, there are reasons to believe that soft modes can enhance some unusual phenomena, such as violation of fundamental symmetries (invariance with respect to coordinate inversion and time reversal). This is a bridge between mesoscopic physics and physics of elementary particles.

For the chain of oxygen isotopes from 16 to 28 we have calculated, in the same approach, bound states, resonances and neutron scattering cross sections. In red we show unstable states with strong color indicating shorter lifetimes.

NSCL is a core institution of the Joint Institute for Nuclear Astrophysics Center for Evolution of the Elements (JINA-CEE), a National Science Foundation Physics Frontiers Center dedicated to interdisciplinary research at the interface of nuclear physics and astrophysics. The goal is to make rapid progress on some of the most important open questions in this subfield: How were the elements created in the first billion years after the Big Bang? What can observations of neutron stars tell us about very high density matter?

Currently, 15 NSCL faculty members and their groups participate in JINA-CEE together with four faculty members in the Astronomy group at the Department of Physics and Astronomy. JINA-CEE embeds research in nuclear astrophysics carried out at NSCL into a large international research network that includes theorists, other experimenters and astronomers. Experimental results thus can be merged with experimental results from other institutions, implemented in astrophysical models and interpreted together with astronomers.

Success in nuclear astrophysics requires an interdisciplinary research approach. JINA-CEE is dedicated to educate the next generation of nuclear astrophysicists by providing students with cross disciplinary training, networking and research opportunities. Access to locally developed astrophysical model codes, as well as research stays at other institutions in the U.S. or Europe, offer nuclear science students the opportunity to interpret their results and fully explore the astrophysical and observational work.

JINA-CEE schools and workshops held at various locations around the world, as well as interactions with JINA visitors, provide additional training opportunities. In addition, the close interaction among the institutions of JINA-CEE provides all members, including graduate students, opportunities to connect with other researchers with similar interests and network with future colleagues.

The JINA-CEE core institutions are Michigan State University, Arizona State University, University of Notre Dame, and University of Washington. This core institution network is linked to 18 associated institutions, including seven center-to-center partnerships, across six countries. To learn more, visit www.jinaweb.org or contact Hendrik Schatz (schatz@msu.edu).

JINA-CEE

In December 2008, the U.S. Department of Energy Office of Science (DOE-SC) announced that MSU had been selected to design and establish the Facility for Rare Isotope Beams (FRIB), a cutting-edge research facility to advance understanding of rare nuclear isotopes. Supporting the mission of the Office of Nuclear Physics in DOE-SC, FRIB will enable scientists to make discoveries about the properties of rare isotopes, nuclear astrophysics, fundamental interactions, and applications for society, including in medicine, homeland security, and industry.

There are some 300 stable and 3,000 known unstable (rare) isotopes. These and many undiscovered rare isotopes will be produced and made available for research by FRIB.

FRIB will enable scientific research with fast, stopped, and reaccelerated rare isotope beams, supporting a community of currently approximately 1,400 scientists from around the world. The new facility will adjoin and incorporate the current NSCL facility making effective use of the existing infrastructure.

Construction of the FRIB conventional facilities—the tunnel for the linear accelerator and support buildings on the surface—began in March 2014, and is currently 10 weeks ahead of schedule. Technical construction started in October 2014. The project is over two-thirds complete and scheduled for completion in 2022, tracking to early completion in fiscal year 2021.

In August 2013, DOE-SC set the total cost for FRIB at $730 million. The state of Michigan has contributed $94.5 million of that cost. MSU’s contribution beyond the total cost is $212 million. The partnership to create, build, and operate FRIB will deliver a world-class DOE-SC scientific user facility that will ensure the nation’s continued competitiveness in nuclear science through provision of unprecedented discovery potential.

More details on FRIB news and updates can be found on the FRIB Project website frib.msu.edu

Features of FRIB design include:• A superconducting-RF driver linear accelerator that

provides 400 kW for all beams with uranium accelerated to 200 MeV per nucleon and lighter ions to higher energy (protons at 600 MeV per nucleon).

• Two electron cyclotron resonance (ECR) ion sources with space to add a third ECR ion source.

• Space in the linac tunnel and shielding in the production area to allow upgrading the driver linac energy to 400 MeV per nucleon for uranium and 1 GeV for protons without significant interruption of the future science program.

• One in-flight production target • Two rare isotope stopping stations • Experimental areas (47,000 square feet) for stopped

beams, reaccelerated beams, and fast beams. • Upgrade options include doubling the size of the

experimental area, adding a neutron-scattering facility, or the addition of ISOL or light-ion injection.

• Opportunity for a pre-FRIB science program using the existing in-flight separated beams from the Coupled Cyclotron Facility and the ReA3 reaccelerator. Users will be able to mount and test equipment and techniques and do science with the beams at all energies in-situ so that they are immediately ready for experiments when FRIB is complete; this will allow for a continually evolving science program during the time FRIB is under construction, which will seamlessly merge into the research program at FIRB.

• A User Relations Office during establishment of the FRIB facility to support development of user programs and experimental equipment.

An artist’s rendering of the finished FRIB facility. The project is scheduled for completion in 2022, tracking to early completion in fiscal year 2021.

THE FACILITY FOR RARE ISOTOPE BEAMS

A Brief HistoryIn 1855, the Michigan State Legislature passed Act 130 which provided for the establishment of the “Agricultural College of the State of Michigan,” which came to be known as the Michigan Agricultural College or “MAC.” MAC was formally opened and dedicated on May 13, 1857, in what is now East Lansing. MAC was the first agricultural college in the nation, and served as the prototype for the 72 land-grant institutions which were later established under the Federal Land Grant Act of 1862, unofficially known as the “Morrill Act” after its chief sponsor, Senator Justin Morrill of Vermont.

The CampusThe East Lansing campus of MSU is one of the most beautiful in the nation. Early campus architects designed it as a natural arboretum with 7,000 different species of trees, shrubs and vines represented. The Red Cedar River bisects the campus; north of the river’s tree-lined banks and grassy slopes is the older, traditional heart of the campus. Some of the existing ivy-covered red-brick buildings found in this part of campus were built before the Civil War. On the south side of the river are the more recent additions to campus — the medical complex, the veterinary medical center, and most of the science and engineering buildings.

EventsThe arts have flourished at MSU, especially in the past two decades after our impressive performing arts facility, the Wharton Center for Performing Arts, opened in the Fall of 1982. The Wharton Center’s two large concert halls are regularly used for recitals, concerts and theater productions by faculty, student groups, and visiting and touring performing artists. Wharton Center brings to our campus dozens of professional musical and theatrical groups each year. MSU is also home to the Jack Breslin Student Events Center, a 15,000+ seat arena which is home to the MSU Spartan basketball team and also plays host to world-class concerts and attractions.

Two facilities that offer both educational and recreational opportunities are the MSU Museum and the Eli and Edythe Broad Art Museum. The MSU Museum houses documented research collections in Anthropology, Paleontology, Zoology and Folklife, as well as regularly hosting traveling exhibits. The Eli and Edythe Broad Art Museum is the newest campus addition. Dedicated in early November of 2012, the museum is a premier venue for international contemporary art, featuring major exhibitions, and serving as a hub for the cultural life of Michigan State, the local and regional community, as well as international visitors. The building was designed by the world-renowned, Pritzker Prize winning architect, Zaha Hadid. The international exhibition program and wide variety of performances, films, videos, and social actions and art interventions will situate the Broad at the center of the international art dialogue.

MICHIGAN STATEUNIVERSITY

AcademicsThere are approximately 48,000 students on campus— from every state and more than 120 nations. Of these, approximately 11,000 are in graduate and professional programs. MSU leads all public universities in attracting National Merit Scholars, and is also a leader in the number of students who win National Science Foundation Fellowships. Michigan State was the first university to sponsor National Merit Scholarships.

If students are the lifeblood of a campus, then the faculty is the heart of a great university. The more than 4,500 MSU faculty and academic staff continue to distinguish themselves, and include members in the National Academy of Sciences, and honorees of prestigious fellowships such as the Fullbright, Guggenheim and Danforth.

University-wide research has led to important developments throughout MSU’s history. Early research led to important vegetable hybrids and the process for homogenization of milk. More recently, the world’s widest-selling and most effective type of anti-cancer drugs (cisplatin and carboplatin) were discovered at MSU.

RecreationMany recreational activities are available on campus and in the Lansing area. Walking and running trails, available extensively throughout the campus, take you through protected natural areas along the Red Cedar River. MSU has two 18-hole golf courses available to students, faculty and staff. There are three fitness centers that provide basketball, handball and squash courts, exercise machine rooms, and aerobic workouts. Two indoor ice skating rinks, an indoor tennis facility, more than thirty outdoor tennis courts, and five swimming pools are accessible as well. In both summer and winter, local state parks such as Rose Lake offer many outdoor activities. In Michigan, snow is not a problem, but an activity, so bring both cross-country and downhill skis. And your snowboards, too!

MSU, which was admitted into the Big Ten in 1948, has a rich tradition in athletics. MSU first competed in conference football in 1953, sharing the title that year with Illinois. Since that time, MSU has enjoyed considerable success in Division I athletics, including NCAA titles in basketball and hockey, and our football team brought home a Rose Bowl Victory in 2014. Graduate students, faculty and staff at NSCL are strong supporters of the athletic programs, which offer opportunities for social interactions outside of the laboratory.

MICHIGAN STATEUNIVERSITY

Capital CityLansing, Michigan’s capital city, is centrally located in Michigan’s Lower Peninsula. The greater metropolitan area has a population of approximately 464,000 and is home to several large industries. The city offers a variety of restaurants, the Lansing Symphony Orchestra, a number of theater companies and the Lansing Lugnuts baseball team. The Impression 5 Science Museum, the R.E. Olds Transportation Museum and the Michigan Historical Museum attract visitors from throughout the region. Major local employers include MSU, the state government and General Motors. Several high-tech companies are located in the area, including the Michigan Biotechnology Institute, BioPort Corporation and Neogen Corporation.

There is a large scientific community in the Lansing area which, along with MSU, is due in part to the presence of a number of the State of Michigan research laboratories in the area, including the Department of Agriculture, the Department of Natural Resources, the Department of Public Health Laboratories, and the Michigan State Police Crime Laboratories.

In addition to MSU, the Lansing Community College, the Thomas M. Cooley Law School, and Davenport College are all located in the capital city area, and the MSU College of Law is housed on the MSU campus.

Natural WondersSituated in the heart of the Great Lakes region of the United States, MSU’s East Lansing Campus is centrally located to not only metropolitan areas such as Chicago and Detroit, but to outstanding natural resources and to northern Michigan’s world-class summer and winter resorts. Michigan’s Upper Peninsula is an undeveloped and unspoiled area of immense natural beauty with a population density of less than twenty persons per square mile. It offers many unique “getaway” opportunities for all seasons. The Lansing area itself provides a variety of recreational opportunities including many golf courses, boating and beach life at Lake Lansing in the summer, and cross-country skiing in the winter. Hunting and fishing opportunities also are found widely throughout the state.

East LansingComplementing campus life is the city of East Lansing, which surrounds the northern edge of the MSU campus. East Lansing is noted for its congenial atmosphere and tree-lined avenues. Shops, restaurants, bookstores, cafés, malls and places of worship serve the student’s needs. East Lansing provides students with a relaxing and stimulating environment for their graduate school experience.

THE LANSING AREA

NSCL website | www.nscl.msu.edu

FRIB website | www.frib.msu.edu

The Graduate School at MSUwww.grad.msu.edu

National Science Foundation www.nsf.gov

U.S. Department of Energy www.energy.gov

Statistical Research Center, American Institute of Physics | www.aip.org/statistics

Department of Chemistry at MSUwww.chemistry.msu.edu

Department of Physics & Astronomy at MSUwww.pa.msu.edu

College of Engineering at MSUwww.egr.msu.edu

MSU General Admissions Informationadmissions.msu.edu

Joint Institute for Nuclear Astrophysics(JINA-CEE) | www.jinaweb.org

NSCL EXPERIMENTALFACILITIES

USEFUL LINKS

CYCLOTRONS

FRAGMENT SEPARATOR

FAST BEAMS

REACCELERATED BEAMS

STOPPED BEAMS

GAS STOPPING

NOTES

NOTES